The original house was at least 30 years old. It was small, dilapidated and located on a hilly property of about six acres with a sea view. The client wanted the house repaired and refurbished, and the garden improved. The function remained the same- a weekend getaway for family and for entertaining friends.
The existing house consisted of three separate room groups, the main one of a living room and two bedrooms, another a servant’s quarters and the third a kitchen structure. The servant’s quarters were converted into the master suite consisting of a sitting room, a bedroom and a spacious bath. Generally the rooms were retained, but repaired and refinished. Also their earlier free standing status was modified-the house was given a unified feeling thanks to the creation of usable courtyards linking the buildings, and a low (6inches high) plinth running around.
Timber was used a lot because it weathers the best in sea –side locations. A lot of the wood used belonged to the old house; it was polished and reworked. The built up areas are simple and small, with load bearing walls, externally plastered, with stucco and timber framed roofs. RCC was used for the lintels. The building elements include timber posts and frames, stone walls, pebble paving, a lot of plants and a few large urns-but the issue of course is of putting them together well. As the photographs show, this attempt was an undoubted success.
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