The mansion was where Gurun Princess Kejing lived after her marriage to a member of the Mongolian Borjigin clan. The Dzungar–Qing Wars meant that the territory now known as Mongolia was unsafe for a Qing princess, so the Kangxi Emperor decreed that she should reside in Hohhot, then known as Guihua City (). The site for the residence was selected in 1703, and all materials and labour for its construction came from the area surrounding Hohhot. The residence was completed in 1705.