Estate Bungalow

Set among rolling tea plantations in the hills of Idukki, the Estate Bungalow is a family retreat designed to feel at home on its slope. Rather than one large roof, the house is broken into a cluster of steep gables that recall the planters’ bungalows of the region and keep the massing gentle against the hillside. It is a concept design, still on the drawing board, shown here as the studio developed it.

The palette is drawn from the land: brick set within a grey, stone-textured frame, timber shutters, and deep timber soffits under the tiled eaves. Glass fills the apex of the tallest gable, and a tall window with a pointed head fills another. A broad balcony with a brick parapet runs across the upper floor, so the family can sit out above the tea. It is a retreat that looks as if it has always belonged to the estate — warm, solid and quietly generous.

A retreat that looks as if it has always belonged to the estate.

Arrival is a climb. A curving drive sweeps up the slope to broad stone steps and a deep porch beneath the balcony, and the foyer looks straight through the house to the hills behind. The main floor gathers the living room, dining, kitchen and laundry, an office, a prayer room and the main bedroom suite with its own dressing room. In the drawings the living room rises through both floors beside the stair, with three more bedrooms above.