A family affair: The Ananths' home in Bangalore

I have to admit I get misty eyed when I read of all the love that goes into making a home--- it touches a chord when I know how each detail has been meticulously planned, the effort and budgeting that has gone into making a home. It's always these stories, of sacrifice and a dream that I am drawn to. While there are those who choose to build 27 storey pads (really (????), I hunger for glimpses into sweet humble homes that I can relate to.  Be it the quintessential American dream or its Indian version "Roti, Kapda aur Makaan", we are, at so many levels, just the same--our core, the humanity and human-ness is unmasked once we peel off the layers.......

So this is a story of a home envisioned by the parents and brought to life by the collective effort of the family. A home created with love, which probably planted the seed for this home, created by the daughter. A home where these adorable terracotta haathis (elephants) have roamed the lawns for 11 years. :)..

I. Die. For the gardens and for these two adorable pachyderms.

These are thousands of cliche's that say it---(i.e. the apple doesn't fall far from the tree), but the truth is that we get a lot more that just genes from our parents. If you'd clicked the links I'd provided in the previous paragraph, you must have arrived at this conclusion: Yes, we're off to meet Mathanki's mum, Rama Ananth, who is an amazing lady in a league of her own.

Oh, the gardens.....what I wouldn't give to have a chance to walk these lawns every morning, huge mug of steaming chai in hand........

Of her gardens and home, Rama says:

 "The garden is a no maintenance garden, it has been just the way it was landscaped (and maintained by us) for the last 11 years. It is all mostly perennial and easy to maintain."

 

"Our Landscape consultant was a friend and we told him to give us a garden that would not need much maintenance, and design a Moorish style garden. He has done a beautiful job for the garden--[it] is almost the same with very few changes over the last 11 years. Only the trees have grown taller and bushier. Also we insisted that he come up with a garden that could survive shortage of water."

Love, love, love those terracotta planters, against the terracotta tile on the floor!!!!

Frangipani/Champa...can anything be more Indian/tropical than it?

I'll take this little patch of heaven, please!

On the conceptualization of the dream:

"My husband was always fascinated by Spanish architecture, so he made a basic plan and we gave it to our very dear and close friend to work on..... We also had a book on Spanish villas of California with us, which was literally our bible, we put our heads together and came up this wonderful house which call our home. We named it Buena Vista, meaning a beautiful view, for it indeed looks beautiful from all sides. We also have a typical Spanish style bell just like they have in their villas in Spain."

 

One view of the living room.

Their gorgeous staircase, terracotta tiles, orange wall...love every little painstakingly crafted detail!

All decked up for diwali! What a  gorgeous space!!

 
 

"People are always amazed at our bold use of colours: they really go well with what we had in mind. [The house] is open all around with lots of doors and window and lots of cross ventilation and light."

 

Just one of the special touches that abound in this home .....

 
 

The planning of the home was executed to perfection:

"We saved a lot of money by not going in for marble flooring in our house. We decided to go for the terracotta flooring as it would not only cost less but would also give our home a country cottage look, and would also keep us warm during winter and cool during summer. We opted for Bamboo rafters, because wooden rafters are way beyond our means. We must thank our Architect Jyoti Dingra for coming up with the idea of putting up the Bamboo rafters. She felt it would go with  the general theme of the house, and it did work wonderfully. Since everyone involved with the building of our house were friends, it was the combined brains of everyone working to give us the best in the budget we had in our mind. "

 
 
 

Love the earthy colors--what a gorgeous rug--it plays up all the other colors in the room beautifully, don't you think?

 

I loved this vintage-y photograph of the bedroom. Sigh. and drool.

The giant mirror reflecting the other details in the master bedroom--the bamboo rafters, the soothing green tones, the floor length windows...

"The tiles that you see in the entrance and inside the house are all hand painted by our daughter and our son, for in those days such painted tiles were very expensive, and we had to have painted tiles: so our children had  to pitch in to do the job."

 
 

 
 
I love how heavily the whole family was invested in the project; the kids had their say, they pitched in with the work (possibly the reason why Mathanki is who she is now....I would say the parents did a great job molding the kids as well!!). Mama Ananth says of the kids' choices:

"I have not given a photo of Mathanki's bedroom,  for which the wall colors and the curtains were chosen by her. It is blue and orange and white. My son's room  color too was chosen by him. Since he wanted everything very modern and stylish we went for perforated steel rafters and steel ladder for his loft style bedroom and also went for gray and dark blue tiles and gray doors and windows."

 

Only a mother could so lovingly preserve her son's toy cars.... :) Loved this sweet display!

Finally I leave you with a picture of the radiantly happy couple, with their beautiful home in the background!

(the tiles on the arch in the background were also done by the kids...I also love how insouciantly the artwork leans against the wall....)

Want to know more? Why don't you hop on over to Rama Ananth's blog where she shares bits of her life, the books she reads, the wisdom she's gleaned, and yes, where she also shares some snippets of her life as an aerobics instructor. She's full of surprises and a really fun personality. Go say hi! Also there are [many] more pictures of her gorgeous home (including some great ideas for diwali) here, and here. Hope you enjoyed the tour as much as I did!!