The Presidential Palace was originally constructed in 1901 for Paul Doumer, then Governor of French Indochina. Painted in the dark mustard yellow stonework with the green windows and louvered shutters so favoured in Vietnam, it is now chiefly employed to receive visiting dignitaries and heads of state.

Vietnamese national hero, Ho Chi Minh, who became President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1954, declined to live here. According to his biographer Duiker: ???e refused an offer by his colleagues to live in the Governor-General??? Palace, which he considered to be too pretentious for his tastes, and decided to take up residence in a small gardener??? house on the palace grounds??