2 Camac Street, the home of Arathoon Stephen, after whom Stephen Court is named. (Amit Datta)

The man who was responsible for founding two of the best-known hotels in the country — The Grand in Chowringhee and Mount Everest in Darjeeling — and building two large apartment blocks in the 1920s that still bear his name, lived and died in a rather modest and unpretentious double-storeyed house at 2 Camac Street. The building is at the corner of Middleton Row.

The house in which Arathoon Stephen lived is fronted by mews that look smart from the Middleton Row front. Mayfair hotels has its offices here. If one walks inside the courtyard, however, the building looks quite as shabby and decrepit as any other building in Calcutta that had seen better days — and there are literally hundreds of them here.

Trees sprout from the walls of the mews that seem to be vacant. At the extreme end of the compound is the outhouse, quite as dilapidated as the house. The main building has a portico crying out for care and the large show window is dirty and unkempt.

The staircase carved with floral motifs is made of solid wood with a dark varnish. It is strengthened with steel girders. The betel juice-stained walls are lined with porcelain tiles in a brilliant shade of emerald. The lift, too, is made of beautiful wood. The first two floors are unoccupied.

Stephen is said to have had a wonderful collection of Oriental china. There is no sign of these treasures anywhere. The Calcutta Municipal Corporation has in its wisdom declared 2 Camac Street a heritage building. A couple of years ago, an attempt was made to wipe out the building’s “heritage” character by dismantling the fan-like structure on the terrace.

Tenants protested and those who were on the job beat a hasty retreat. The structure is still visible from the petrol pump behind it.