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Monday, April 19, 2010

Goa Style ... Diaries

For the longest time ever,I have been dreaming of the Goa style interiors. Does the  mention of Goa make you imagine ... sun swept sand ... thatched roof ... whitewashed walls ... mattresses with throw cushions ... well ! Beeeep ... wrong answer ... that's probably Cancun you are thinking of or may be the Greek islands ... :o)
Definitely not Goa style ... cause the real Goa style is a different thing alltogether ... :)
It is truly an indigineous style ... a style that evolved out of the Portugese, Hindu and Islamic influences.There are elements which strongly speak of local life ... as it was and as it is ...
We took a vacation to Goa before moving to Gurgaon.And let me show you what a beautiful  Goan bunglow I got to enjoy.It is over a 100  years old ... and restored in ways which would make any romantics heart melt ...   O.K so mine was all over the floor... :)


 This is the home of Bennita and Ganesh and their two darling girls Trikaya and Trisha ... and its a very a warm welcome to this bright yellow bunglow  Arco Iris with its beautiful Azulejos tile entranceway.

Goan interiors are often decorated with this beauitful decorative borders ... around the doors ... around inbuilt shelves ... cupboard spaces ... I enjoyed discovering the hardwork that goes into these... many times very ornately handpainted designs.And not surprisingly there are not many involved in this art these days ...

Being authentic to the Goa Style ... Benny and Ganesh have created lovely mosaic  tiled flooring  in all the rooms of their bunglow ... added  to this ,their every growing collection of old Indian colonial furniture ... the drawing room is soooo ... inviting ...with eyes wandering to every corner and not wanting to miss out any details ... while light filters in through tthe beautiful french doors theat open out on to the veranda that  runs all along  front of the bunglow.

 The Bishops chair ... a lovely piece of colonial furniture... reminisent of the Colonial history of Goa.Do forgive the shaky picture the photogapher was overwhelmed ... :)

I am absolutely in love with these chairs ... saw them in a lot of antique stores all over Goa ... some day I'm sure to pick up the entire set ... ;)


The seat at the entrance ... of Goan homes is a very typical feature ... it served many purposes in feudal homes ..and a lot of activities the ladies indulged in happenend here.This here is a beautiful balcony adjoining one of the rooms in the bunglow ... and who but my older girl Aimee enjoyed it the most ... :)


Benny and Ganesh have a passion for collecting... restoring ... and adding new pieces to their collection of furniture ... and these beds ... weee ... the whole feel takes you back into another era... :)


...the true feel of dining in Goa, is not in dining at the Leela Kempinski or the Taj ... its here at the Arco Iris ... the red flooring ... with mosaic borders ...the curtorim wind blowing throughout  the bunglow... :) ... the chairs that had many tales to share if they could ... that they once also belonged to Heta Pandit ... who is an absolute bible for me when it comes to talking about Goa ... and the lady behind the Goa Heritage Action Group


These columns are made of local Laterite stone ...patiently carved piece by piece by a craftman (something not so easy to come by these days) ... but then if you are as passionate as Benny and Ganesh ... you figure your way out and search high and low ... untill the whole bunglow was a piece of authentic Goan restoration...

... the beautiful cast iron grills all over  Goa ... soooo make me wish, I was the pied piper of Hamlin ... walk down the streets and magically all the beautiful grills come off the balconies and follow me away... don't ask me what I'd do with all the goodies ... may be all that excitment would drive me nuts ... treasure  ... treasure at last ... ;) ... don't believe me ... ??? ... you really need to take a walk down the streets of Goa ... :)

You also absolutely must, read the whole story of the restoration of Arco Iris ... here ... here (this one is their Face book page) ... I do hope you enjoyed a peek-a boo into the world that is real Goa Style ... and I shall share more on Goa Style details as I bump across them ... so do tell me what you felt ... was it a wow wee moment for you as well .... :)

48 comments:

Unknown said...

Lovely!! You are right, there is a huge Porteguese influence in the Goan lifestyle. Loved the pictures Rajee, and thanks for sharing...

Ananva said...

Do they rent this bungalow out or are the owners friends of yours? Loved the Bishop chairs!!

My Dream Canvas said...

Oh my, what a fabulous fabulous place. Welcome back Rajee..missed you!! Please compliment the owners..this place is simply gorgeous.

Unknown said...

what a beautiful house. My parents stay very close to Goa and every holiday is spent there.. u just brought back a flood of lovely memories.. of goan architecture, food, beach n wine! Lovely pics rajee will surely check out this place for my next trip to goa.

Fana Syeda said...

Hi rajee,
The flooring was quite interesting.. Very colorful and they kinda look like carpet from far...nice design work on them.

the latin sardar said...

Nice!! I'm ready for that holiday now...

Lakshmi -Celebrations said...

Hi Rajee,interesting..Such alovely holiday u had,i can make out.Lovely place anyway,their furnitures are too good..Thnks dear for sharing.Hope the setting up of your place is quite done,

ishmi said...

simple WOW! :)
You're fantastic, Rajee, for bringing the sun dappled house to life in the pictures so well! :)

Miss Frangipani said...

Good to see you posting once again, Rajee and hope to hear more of your adventures from Gurgaon.

I live in Goa and you're right - this place is full of amazing design with all the various cultural influences that have passed this way (including Heta, who is really sweet:)

Chryselle @Frangipani Decor

Kamini said...

Absolutely beautiful home. Thanks for sharing.Do they rent rooms out or are they friends of yours?

Kamini said...

Beautiful home. Thanks for sharing. Do they rent out rooms or are they friends of yours?

The Ketchup Girl said...

I did read of this place. a journalist friend stayed there and had loved it. Your pictures makes me want to go there right now.

Anonymous said...

This is so beautiful, Rajee! It's great to hear from you again.

Monika said...

really lovely.

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Anpu,
Soooo ... glad you enjoyed it ... thank you for taking the time to write to me ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Ananva,
This bunglow is run by Benniita and Ganesh as a home stay ... and having stayed with them ... now I think they are surely one of my dear friends... :)They really are one of the most loving family to go and enjoy Goa with ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Anu,
You should check out their pictures about all the restoration days (on their FB page Arco Iris) ... it is a commendable story of passion for the bunglow and their labour of love ... :)

Kathy said...

What a wonderful post! I just love the floors and the beautiful yellow exterior. My favorite, though, are the doorways...and the beautiful entranceway. Thanks for the Goa lesson....K

Sunita Mohan said...

I think I'm in love ... I know for sure that I'm definitely in lust! What an absolutely gorgeous home. I love the furniture. And the wooden staircase. And the sit-out with those typically built-in seats. And the floor. and the ...oh, I think I love it all! No wonder your big girl looks so happy :D

Anonymous said...

Rajee,

Any idea what the red floor tiles are? Not mosaic, right?

Anonymous said...

Wow..lovely post Rajee! Awesome pics of an awesome place!!
Thanks for sharing :)

Charity Donovan said...

Just beautiful!!!

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Shruti @ Mindful meanderer,
Lucky you to have such lovely memories ... Oh! you absolutly ... absolutly ... must visit them ... you are sure to love everbit of your time there ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Fana,
I guess its ingenius idea from times past ... to have that beautiful look in a tropical country,where due to temperatures dust is a perpetual issue ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Praji,
Call me and I'll give you some more pointers ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Lakshmi,
Loveliest vacation in recent past ... as for settling in ... hahahaha ... slowly ... very slowly ... don't not want to enjoy it ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Ishmi,
Thankyou so much ... I am absolutely thrilled that you too enjoyed them so much ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Chryselle @Frangipani Decor,
Lovely to be back ... and even more lovely to get to hear from you ... I absolutely bow to Heta's knowledge ... and have to say its so beautiful in Goa ... I'm glad I don't live there ... with all those beautiful properties everywhere ... I'd probably go crazy ... can't always be in a wow woow weee state of mind ... ;)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Kamini,
Their home is also a home stay ... and I got to discover this place because it looked the most amazing place to go and discover Goa without having to leave my 5 yr. old Labby girl ... :)
And having lived there we now have them as one of our very dear friends ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Ketchup girl,
If you want my opinin ... hurry girl why waste time ... its the best place to go and turn vegetative ... if you know what I mean ... ;)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi @ Once upon a Tea Time ,
:) ... sooo nice to hear from you ... and yep ! it is really lovely at this place ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Monika,
I agree its sooo lovely I am in love with Arco Iris and its owners ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Kathy,
Am I glad you enjoyed the first on the Goa style ... though its just the tip of the ice -berg ... you'll really enjoy the books by the author ... Heta Pandit ... they are on Amazon as well ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Sunita,
You are in love and lusting ... hahhaa ... o.k lets put the clear picture here ... if theres ever a queue ... of all fans of Arco Iris ... me is way ahead ... come on follow me ... ;)
Oh! my older girl was absolute guest of honour ... she could get away with anything over there ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Anonymous,
Traditionally the red flooring used to be red oxide ... but these days you get cement tile in those colors and of some most amazing designs ... :)Feel free to write in if you want any more details ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi @ softypinkngloriousred ,
Glad you enjoyed it too ... and truly love to hear from you ... thanks for leaving me your comments ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi @ Charity Donovan ,
:) ... thank you ... :)

indian yarn said...

this looks very similar to some of the old houses i have visited in kerala - even the furniture and the shelves you mention portuguese influence - is it? they definitely had influence on the church there and portugence influence overpowered teh jews who also left some of the influences on the christian culture - .

nice pictures rajee

Anonymous said...

Thank you Rajee for the info on the flooring

But Red Oxide tiles shine with use only, isnt it?
No Instant way to have it?! :|

I have seen these red smooth tiles in a church and they looked awesome. Heard that they have to polish it and footwear not allowed

Rajee Sood said...

Hi @ Indian Yarn,
I love your blog sooo nuch ... that this is really fabulous to hear from you on my blog ... :)THe furniture's real true influence ... I'd say more colonial ... and it does have a lot of resemblance to similar other colonies of the past ... Ofcourse ...I'd be over tthe moon to discover in detail study about the furniture from colonial India ... :)
Thanks again for writing in to me ... :)

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Anonymous ...
I too have heard so ... but I can try and find out more about it if you wish ... but the wonderful thing is that today(especially the flooring you see at Arco Iris) is actually cement tiles ... and hell ... :) you can polish them to a beautiful shine ... :)
Just thought I'd share with you ... in case you had any future plans ... :)

Anonymous said...

Rajee, I just zeroed in on the cement tiles for a room in the dream home :D

Putting this on the list along with Athangudi tiles

Thanks Rajee.

Ianny said...

Oozing with ethnicity. And those vivid colors.. how intriguing!

Unknown said...

It is a nice collection of home interior pics, the use of wall light & chandelier is awesome.

Rajee Sood said...

Hi Andersonwilliam,
I am glad you enjoyed my post ... a stay at this place with its owners is as beautiful as their home is ...:)
THankyou so much for leaving me your comment ... :)

Malibu landscape lighting said...

Oooh, you’re such an inspiration. I love this blog!

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balu said...

impeccably beautiful....awed!

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