Built in 1874, the Bhau Tambekar Wada is a heritage building situated in the heart of Vadodara city, on Pratap Road, near the clock tower. It was built by Bhau Tambekar who was the Diwan of Baroda State between 1849 and 1854 at the time of Maharaja Ganpatrao Gaekwad. Ganpat Rao Gaekwad was the ninth Maharaja of Baroda State reigning from 1847 to 1856. He was the eldest son of Sayaji Rao Gaekwad II and became Maharaja of Baroda after the death of his father. Tambekar Wada was once the private residence of Bhau Tambekar.

This four storey Maratha mansion features 19th-century murals, paintings, exquisitely sculpted doors, minutely carved walls, series of decorated arcades and columns. The entire mansion structure is raised on a stone plinth and back walls are built into a wooden framework. The shell-lime plastered walls and wooden doors on the first floor have paintings depicting 19th-century Ramayana and Mahabharata scenes, gods and goddesses of the Brahmanical pantheon, battle scenes showing Indian and European soldiers and dignitaries. Edges of the walls are highlighted with broad floral borders; intricate jali work on some walls gives a rustic look to the building. Only two floors of the palace remain open for tourists. The frescoes rooms with wall paintings are protected by the Survey of India.