Rajas Cottage is a special project as the home is sited in the ancestral town of the client i.e. Mangalore. The Cottage is a 90 years old Mangalore styled villa with age old mud walls creaking and red oxide flooring that’s losing its stain and texture. The discomfort of not having attached bath areas and wardrobe spaces in bedrooms along with inadequate lighting in the entire home were some of the other drawbacks in the spatial planning. The addition of the new furniture in the recent past that didn’t sit well with the house theme and mainly the lack of strength in the old structure were other reasons because of which the client decided to revamp the old space.
It’s a 12 cent plot with the main door facing the North east. The house has a built up area of 4000 square feet with a bit if landscaping along one stretch of the plot. The mango tree located in the midst of the plot has its branches set across both sets of the car porches.
The inspiration for this project stemmed from having a space that would reflect the client’s heritage and restore the family memories. The aim was to create a space that would not only blend the old and new but would also accommodate the client’s contemporary lifestyle. The first step was to strengthen the walls by introducing steel sections between the walls.
The overall traditional vibe of the existing home has been retained and the brought together beautifully by any interesting palette of colors and accents. The Chettinad stone and wooden columns along with the Athangudi tiles and solid wood ceiling add immense character to the house. As the popularity in terms of design has seen a dive over time, every element used had to either be sourced from different parts of the country or had to be customized so as to make the project, time consuming but definitely worth every bit.
The windows on the exterior façade of the structure have been customized so as to bring in a Chettinad feel to the space. The dramatic grill design with a section of green colored flora glass only adds to this warm yet earthy feel. The manufacturing of this flora glass has been discontinued today, which got the client’s to look high and low to source it.
Right above it a row of concrete molded design. The roofing material is composed of locally available Mangalore tiles and the arched wood design located below the roof is another interesting feature that adds beauty to the façade.
As one enters the gate, a car porch has be built, flanked by two intricate stone columns that give a vintage vibe and impart and aura of piety.
The entry of the house is designed with a raised platform called "thinnai" which is referred to as a porch overlooking the courtyard in a traditional Chettinad home, with the goal to receive visitors. The built-in wooden seating on the entrance verandah adds to its quaint charm as do the Chettinad wooden pillars on both sides of the seating.
Steeped in sustainability, the iconic handmade, cement Athangudi tiles, named after the client’s village of origin is where they sourced it from and are synonymous with Chettinad architecture. This is the flooring that has been used on the ground level in all rooms except for the kitchen, which steals the spotlight in the overall house design.
The new walls have been constructed using laterite blocks that help provide thermal insulation. While the materials used not only have an aesthetic appeal, they also regulate indoor temperatures, especially in the hot and humid Mangalore weather.
The Mangalore style piece of furniture that accommodates 4 , the wall segregating the formal and semi-formal living spaces adorned with arched windows and the door that has been retained from the earlier design, speaks volumes of a traditional Mangalore home that the client didn't want to part ways with it.
Growing up, the client had always appreciated the antique switches and wood boards that the switches were mounted in the client’s ancestral home. And though nobody makes them anymore, the client managed to find these antique style switches from a vendor in Mumbai and incorporated them in the cottage.
The seating in the semi-formal area has been re-upholstered and a double carpet tile pattern was introduced in between the room to accommodate and antique cradle that too was re-purposed into a center table by using an Italian marble as a countertop.
The wooden ceiling with rafters is something that the client wanted retained in most rooms as they really help bring richness into the space.
A slab has been constructed above the dining room, so as to accommodate wardrobes and bathing spaces in both the client’s and the client’s brother’s bedroom that is located on the first floor level which earlier did not have these spaces incorporated in the original spatial planning. The flooring further changes as one moves into the dining area. Customized windows with a carved wooden arch detail over it and a molded arched border around it, antique lights besides it and an antique Chettinad door topped with glass over it that's used as a dining table top are the highlights of this space and one amongst the many antique furniture pieces that the client picked up from Karaikudi, a town in Tamilnadu.
In order to separate the kitchen space from the dining area, wooden columns have been used over a pedestal which acts as an entryway and also brings in the openness between the dining and kitchen area.
The kitchen has been kept simple with a modular finish but brought in a veneer detail over the modular gola handles and on the island counter in the form of open units to not lose the essence of the home concept.
The client and its family members are absolute foodies. The client loves to describe its mother and brother at being great books and its father and itself at being great eaters. It was for this very reason that the island was planned and is where the initial food tasting is done and a lot of conversations happen around it and lastly but of course to introduce more space in the kitchen. The light above the island is a handmade light with a leaf inlay on it that was procured from Purple Turtle, Bangalore.
An antique wardrobe from Karaikudi was picked up and transformed into a crockery unit that was later placed in the kitchen. The ground floor also accommodates the master and guest bedrooms, with attached bathrooms and walk-in closet spaces.
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