CityScapes: Colonial Homes

The last of the City’s colonial homes
Deccan Herald

They still carry with them the old world charm. These beautiful bungalows amidst the concrete jungle, stand out for their aesthetic beauty as much for their architecture.

Colonial India still lives and breathes in Bangalore, in its old gracious bungalows. Most of them that are left can be found in the Frazer Town, Cooke Town and Benson Town areas with very few left now in Richmond Town and Langford Town. Hundreds have disappeared forever, under the hammer of the ‘developer,’ but the few that are left, still evoke lovely memories for the owners and those familiar with them.

The homes I visited were all about 100 years old and are expensive to maintain, but a joy to live in. All are built in a similar fashion with a portico, which leads up the main steps into a large hall-cum-dining room with a host of bedrooms with attached baths, in each wing of the house.

There are pantries and dressing rooms and storerooms. All had kitchens in the backyard alongside the servant’s quarters. Most have Cudappah tiles or red oxide floors and the 25 ft tall Mangalore tile roof’s are decorated from the inside with Italian tiles.

Trestlework monkey tops and ornate pillared gates are the hallmark of all these homes. Of course every bungalow stands in a large rambling garden filled with fruit trees and flowers. Large families of five or more children lived and grew up in these homes. Most of these houses were bought from the British or built by the owners for around Rs 35,000 to a maximum of Rs 50,000!

Talking to Sameena and Ameen Adam of the Adams Square fame, Sameena explained that their family were at first tenants of 22, Hall Road, for 40 years. Later they bought it from a trust. "There is not much of maintenance," says Ameena, "and in this house we don’t need any air conditioning or fans as it has wonderful cross-ventilation."

At the corner of Pottery Road is the large rambling house well over 100 years old belonging to K G Shashidhar. "My father-in-law bought it from an Englishman. The red Terracotta tiles on the floor are a legacy from the time we have lived here." Jackfruit, mango and a variety of fruit trees grow in the huge garden.

Rest House Crescent has just two old colonial houses left. Most others have turned into apartment blocks. One belongs to the family of Joseph D’mello who is the youngest of a family of 10 sons. The family came in with a group of other Goan families from Zanzibar in Africa. Built by his father Jerome D’mello in 1932 there is a lot of sentimental attachment to the house as he was born in it. There are five large bedrooms with a big L-shaped verandah in front.

"There were large poultry rooms and store rooms along with servants rooms out at the back in the old days. Our house was featured in Bangalore Beautiful brought out by TP Issar," explains Joe.

The other house on Rest House Crescent is diagonally opposite and is the home of B P Mascarenhas and his family.

The house has a picture perfect garden with anthuriums and an old fashioned pond. "Dad bought the house for Rs 35,000 from a Mr Majors, an Englishman," says Francis.

"My two sisters and myself all live together here in this house with Dad. My third sister is abroad. The roof of the bedrooms are high and so the rooms are very cool in summer. The main hall has what is known as a Madras roof. All the interiors of the roofs are tiled with a decorative tile which is probably Italian."
"Built by a Britisher whose descendants live in Australia my husband Mohan’s aunt bought this 120 year old house," explains Priya Mascarenhas.

Their wonderful house is on Cookson Road and has won several prizes including the best maintained heritage home in Bangalore. It has been featured in the Australian Home and Garden magazine and the BBC and Good Morning India had featured it in their Style Programme. "Recently the Alva brothers featured it in their TV documentary. There are 12 rooms totally with six bedrooms," explains Priya. "Each has an attached bath and we have not changed the red Italian tile floors. Maintaining these homes is tough as we have to get material to match the building, modern materials don’t gel with the old world ambience," she says.

"Pilerne" on Hayes Road, Richmond Town is probably one of the last of the colonial homes left on the road. Built by Hipolitho Furtado when he returned to India from seeking his fortune in Africa, the house sheltered his wife and seven children. " My father-in-law enjoyed living in this house with his family. I remember there was no need to buy fruit, there was so much from the garden. The family was very musical, so evenings were spent around the piano," reminisces Loretta Furtado present owner of the house.

John Pinto’s lovely home at 83, Mosque Road, is an unusual two-storeyed colonial home. "It was built by an Englishman in 1933; we have lived here for 66 years," he says with pride. "We were a family of 10 children who grew up here. Now my son lives with his family on the top floor. This has become a commercial area and the noise has been the only change," he says with regret.


MARIANNE FURTADO de NAZARETH