Saturday, November 13, 2010

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!!

36 comments:

  1. Dear All, just because i know you're wondering, I'm better, but it may be a week or two till i'm fully functional. I didn't hear from the doctor's office, so I'm presuming that my back pain isn't linked to anything serious. I'm still on medication and will be for the rest of the week. I'll be blogging, albeit sporadically.

    Thank you for all your sweet comments and wishes, I'm so touched with all your love and support. I want to be back 100% with you asap....really really missing you all!

    Hope to catch up with you soon!!

    Hugs.......
    Gagan

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  2. Oh my God. love the use of terracotta in this house. you know all these beautiful homes make me yearn for my own. when will I build mine???/

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  3. G: I hope you're not in as much pain anymore. Keep us posted on your recovery!
    On another note: I almost did a double-take when I saw the garden of this lovely home. It looks...beyond amazing. And all the terracotta makes me miss the homes I grew up in in India. Good luck finding a terracotta-tiled home in DC. Ha. Sigh...a lot of things about this home struck an especially nostalgic chord with me. Beautiful!

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  4. Beautiful terracota murals, awesome poand a lovely couple. Great post GB. Get well soon.

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  5. hmmmmmm.... the keyboard is acting up. Beautiful terracota murals, awesome staircase and lovely couple. Great post GB. Get well soon. Thank god got it right this time :-)

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  6. Loved every element of this home. The terracotta wall mrals are just out of this world ( i want to do it myself one day )...the bamboo , the terracotta tiles , the painted tiles and all the cane and rattan furniture looks like my type....

    Take care of the back pain , i have been a sufferer for years . Write me if you want some home remedies .

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  7. beautiful home ,could see lot of love in this home and in rama ananths blog.thanks for bringing it to us gagan

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  8. Glad to see you sort of back in action, we missed you! Also so glad to see Rama's house, she and I have become really good cyber buddies (it turns out our husbands were batchmates in IIT...small world!). Lovely lovely house and lovely lady! Beautiful post GB!

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  9. Such a beautiful, warm, inviting home---and post!

    Thank You. I got to find some elephants for our yard!

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  10. Good to see you back in your spunky self with this gorgeous post. The home speaks of the lovely people who live there. I love earthy colors and accents and can spend hours in a home like this. Even uninvited. But just checking, will they adopt me?

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  11. Thanks Gagan for featuring our house in your blog. Without your effort and encouragement, I don't think it would have been possible.
    I thank everyone for their lovely comments.

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  12. Oh.. lovely.. I love the outdoors... simply gorgeous.. Also love love the orange wall!! :-)

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  13. Oooo...I could spend my whole life in that garden..sipping tea and reading magazines & blogs ofcourse ..sooo good!
    Take care dear..the back pain is awful..I have seen my mum suffering a lot.
    Hey do you live in NJ?..I dun knw but smhow I thought so coz you mentioned Patel bros once!

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  14. Okay even if you dont...have any idea if I can get some good deals on handicrafts and artifacts for the home in NY/NJ?Asking you coz you are into this interior design things a lot...

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  15. What a find! Absolutely gorgeous! I love their home and that garden

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  16. Absolutely awesome home..very beautiful and creative..

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  17. I have seen glimpses of this at Rama's blog. Beautiful home, hard to pick a favorite.

    GB - Good to know you are feeling better.

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  18. I keep coming back to the post to read through the tour..nice...such a warm setting and all so well done...:) congratulations to Rama and family for putting together such a wonderful home :)

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  19. Gegan, love the tour. Those elephant statues would look lovely in my Jungalow ;-) ! I do hope you feel better very, very soon. Big hugs and positive vibes to you from California.

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  20. Lovely home, with wonderful colors. I truly adore the garden.

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  21. what gorgeous outdoors! What a lovely warm home! Good to hear you are feeling better.

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  22. Loved the concept of non-maintainence garden and the terracotta artefacts.:)The effort of putting together a lovely house shows, gr8 job Rama.

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  23. Gorgeous home Rama!..beautiful outdoors...such a warm home!!
    TFS Gagan!...good to know you are better now :)

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  24. oh my!Lovely lovely home.Lovely garden and I love the tilework on the staircase.I so love terracotta flooring, but sadly my husband does not share the love, so it's all ceramic tiles in my home.sigh...

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  25. What an absolutely beautiful home! Thank you for sharing! Really makes one feel for one's own home as well! And do take care :).

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  26. What a fabulous home...sigh!!!!! Hope you are feeling better?

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  27. been thinking of you doll, and i'm glad to see this post. lovely :)

    xo Alison

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  28. This is a beautiful, warm, and inviting home. The elephants are adorable (and the dog that likes to lay by them!). Oh, and you have such a way with words...

    Hope you are resting up and feeling better.

    Leigha

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  29. I LOVE and die for those pachyderms too!

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  30. You have done a fitting tribute to this beautiful home. But most beautiful of all is the picture of the couple, so blissfully happy, one is not surprise they built such a wonderful sanctuary for themselves.

    I read all your posts backward and realise that you have posted more with what must be a hellish backache than me in the past 2 months!! :):) Rest, my dear :):):)

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  31. warm nd inviting!!
    lurve d use of earthy colors!!

    http://www.fashionisnart.blogspot.com/

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  32. Everything in this home is gorgeous!I loved the garden,terracota tiles and the bell in the entrance of the house.Wish to have a home like this.

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  33. What an amazing Home they have so beautifully created! So inviting, so exotic and serene.

    Dawn... The Bohemian

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  34. Hi Rama,I loved every bit of your home!The living room,the stair case,the garden.....all of it and can't help missing Bangalore where I have left my own 'home' and had to move base to NCR....

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  35. Hi Vandana,
    Thanks for liking our. Bangalore has lost its charm and beauty, but it is the best city to live. Glad to know you through this blog.
    Happy Holidays!!

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