There’s no denying the fact that old is gold. One look at Kuzhuvelil Tharavad in Kurinji near Pala, is a testimony to this golden revelation. The ancestral home is a century and a half years old. It’s been renovated. But as is done today with modern changes and tweaks, old houses are hardly recognizable after they get a makeover. Gone are their history, tradition and old-time ambience. Herein lies the difference done on this house. With the old and dilapidated parts removed, what stands now is burnished gold.
A house on 20 acres of land is no mean joke today. From afar, it looks picture-perfect with its new coat of paint and polish. It was 70 years ago that this 150- year-old house got its first shaping-up. It was during this time that tiles replaced thatched roofs. A verandah, a bathroom and a northern block were the major additions to the ancestral house then.
The house was recently redone as per the ideas of its owner Suresh who is at present in Qatar with family. The old dwelling belongs to his wife Rani and right now her mother lives here. All modifications were carried out as per the instructions and guidelines laid down by vaastu expert M.P.Vijayan Achary, who drew up the plan.
What necessitated the renovation were the crumbling chunam walls, broken floors and the constant dust falling from the attic. The tharavad comprises the main house, supported by the northern and southern blocks.
The northern block was completely redone with cement plastering. The southern block is in the process of being transformed into a home theater area. The old rooftop was replaced with new wooden planks and new tiles were paved over it. As the old bathroom was found to be totally out of sync with its surroundings according to vaastu, it was pulled down completely. In its place now stands a gazebo, a small pavilion, from where one can view the outside.
There were rooms in the old house where women could rest post-delivery. The walls separating these rooms were knocked down to make way for a grand hall. This now is a living-cum-dining section. A striking feature of the room is the plywood-covered steel beam, which levels up the difference in height between the two sections of the room.
The old kitchen was converted into a bedroom with an attached bathroom. Two more bathrooms were built from the back verandah of the old structure. The present kitchen stands where the old dining room once was. Another space was also converted into a bedroom, with the extra floor area being turned into a small bathroom. The kitchen cabinets are all of marine plywood.
As it was renovation and not fresh building that was undertaken, the contractor found it difficult to finish the work as per the work terms and there cropped up quite a difference in the nature of work and the cost too than what was agreed upon earlier, said the owner. Besides, as the site overseer lacked practical experience, a lot of building up and pulling down was necessitated. The old wiring was ripped out and set anew. As it was difficult to do concealed wiring over granite, the wires were laid through pipes and set inside the attic and plastered.
All the old wall shelves and almirahs were torn down and the empty space was walled up. The wood from these were reused and stored away for future use. The old wooden beams were replaced by new ones. Steel beams were also used.
The replacements:
» The chunam on the old walls was scraped off and replaced by cement. To avoid the damp, the walls were covered with putty and painted.
» The floors, which lacked placement cement concrete, were paved afresh with cement, and tiles were laid.
» The furniture was freshly polished. So was the attic.