The Earshot area used to be filled with busy administrative staff looking after the needs of the Parliament. Before it became the Parliament House, it was an extension of the jail, which is where The Shop is now. The bars and grilles of the jail can still be found in the kitchen behind Earshot. At The Shop next door, the exposed wall in its original bricking at the entrance reveals the oldest part of the building.

As cement was not a common building material in the past, the walls were treated with stucco or “Madras Chunam” plaster made from shell lime without sand. This lime was mixed with egg whites and coarse sugar, beaten together to form a paste.  After that, they would soak coconut husks in water for 24 hours and use the water to mix it with the paste, which would then be plastered on the walls. After drying the surfaces were polished with rock crystals until a remarkable, polished, smooth and glossy surface resulted. The surfaces still endure to this day, and they are so hard that nails cannot be knocked through.