Murmupp at 19:14, 1 March 2026

2026-03-01T19:14:51Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox building
|name = Cashew House
|image = Cashew House in Kollam, a distant view, June 2015.jpg
|caption = A distant view of Cashew House in [[Mundakkal]], [[Kollam]] city
|coordinates = {{coord|8.876947|76.595962|display=inline}}
|location_town = [[Mundakkal]], [[Kollam]] city
|location_country= India
|architect=
|client= Lindsay Johnson
|engineer=
|construction_start_date=
|completion_date= 1935
|demolished_date=
|cost=
|structural_system=
|architectural_style= Indian
|size=
}}
The '''Cashew House''' in [[Mundakkal]], [[Kollam]] city, is the headquarters of [[Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation Limited]] in [[Kerala]], India. It is very closely related with the history of ancient [[Quilon]] and the Cashew business of [[Kollam]] city.<ref name="Kollam to have heritage museum – News published in The Hindu">{{cite web |url=http://www.cashewcorporation.com/contactus.php |title=The Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation Limited |year=2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020181844/http://www.cashewcorporation.com/contactus.php |archive-date=2014-10-20 }}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Cashew @ Paravur.jpg|thumb|right|Nila Cashew packets displayed in a supermarket at [[Paravur, Kollam|Paravur]] near [[Kollam]]. Nila Cashews is one among the popular [[Kollam]]-based cashew exporters]]
Cashew business and export from [[Kollam]] city is world-famous and that is why [[Kollam]] is known as ''Cashew Capital of the World''. The gigantic two-storied building was owned by an American businessman Lindsay Johnson since it was built in 1935. He came to [[Kerala]] as the representative of a [[New York City|New York]]-based food company. He named his daughter '''Kerala''' because of his love to the state. Johnson became one of the richest men of his times because of his cashew business in [[Kollam]] city. But he was forced to go back to his country, United States during the time of [[World War II]], when the American Government ordered its citizens in India to return. Johnson pledged his house to the well-established Quilon bank at that time and had handed over his cashew business to his manager Swaminathan, while looking forward to return after the war.

But later, Swaminathan told Johnson that his business was running at a loss due to the [[World War II|world war]] and the Quilon bank was looking to attach the building. The manager knowingly diverted the profit from Johnson's business and later Quilon Bank had attached the property. Later, Mr. F.X. Pereira (former owner of [[Kerala Minerals and Metals]] and started mining rare earth minerals from the shores of [[Kollam]]) acquired the building in an auction. As time passed, the old bungalow of Mr. Johnson was procured by the [[Government of Kerala|Kerala Government]] to make it the headquarters of [[Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation Limited]], a public sector company that deals with cashew business in [[Kollam]] and the entire [[Kerala]].<ref name="Cashew HQ tells story of a betrayal – News published in Deccan Chronicle">{{cite web | url = https://www.deccanchronicle.com/141018/nation-current-affairs/article/cashew-hq-tells-story-betrayal | title = Cashew HQ tells story of a betrayal | date = 18 October 2014 | newspaper=Deccan Chronicle | first=Sham | last=Mohammed | access-date=8 July 2018 }}</ref><ref name="Cashew Exporters in Kollam">{{cite web | url = http://yellowpages.webindia123.com/d-py/Kerala/Kollam/Cashew-Exporters-1430/1/ | title = Yellow pages }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Cashew business in Kollam}}
{{Kollam}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in Kollam]]
[[Category:Cashews]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1935]]
[[Category:1935 establishments in India]]
[[Category:20th-century architecture in India]]

Cashew House - Revision history

Murmupp at 19:14, 1 March 2026