Architect's Farmhouse, Navghar

The house is designed as one space. The idea is to bring the family together during their short retreats from the city. Large pivoted doors and glazed windows open up the space to the green, wooded outdoors. Thus, the house feels like a spacious verandah, shaded by a split, high-pitched roof. When needed, chatai partitions can be slid across to enclose two bedrooms at either corner on one side. A spiral staircase between the two bedrooms connects to the mezzanine space for the children, overlooking the hall.

The steel and timber structure, with mud-plastered brick walls and rough stone flooring, evokes a rustic feel, and is enlivened by a splash of colours on selected internal walls.

Two large mango trees on one side form the shaded, intimate outdoor sit-out.

Area: 195 sq mt. Cost: Rs.7 lac.
Contractor: Mac Construction
Consultants: Dwijen Bhatt, Siddharth Consultants,
Hydro-mechanical Consultants.
Period of construction: 2002.
Supporting architect: Mohammed Ali Momin.

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