House of three, spirited out of pure limitations of resources, space and money, is Rahul Venugopal, Principal Architect’s abode crafted with all the charm and humbleness of agrarian culture and lifestyle to suit the needs of the three-member family. A home approached through a series of unassuming Kerala landscapes attracts one to a significant play of sloping roof proportions accompanied by the beautiful northern lights that shine on this bare brick structure intervening with bold white belts.
Earlier, the land accommodated a fifty-year-old home which was demolished and materials such as bricks (reused for walls and foundation for the new house), Mangalore tiles, and stone slabs found in the adjacent areas (reused as stone seaters, steps and pillars), metal rods from the nearby plot (reused as staircase handrail) and old wooden joinery were exploited to the maximum possible extent to reduce the imprint of the new house. Filler slabs, oxide flooring and walls, exposed bricks etc form the identity of the architect’s home and his practice.
A modest living/dining room with built-in seaters, with an interactive play of oxide colours, imprints of leaf on treads of the stairs and foyer, a kitchen and two small bedrooms on the ground floor and a first-floor studio area overlooking the vast pond make one fall in love with this experimental but atypical home. The trickle of light in through the brick jaali, the classic red of the veranda flooring, the play of light on the whimsical speckles of the studio’s green oxide, the blue of the roof rafters, the chirping of babblers and koels by the pond and an unending aura of a definite Kerala landscape…House of three is setting an example for “need to necessity” in everyday life.
