This is the house Tinu Antony built. A native of Pala, his 2,200 sq ft house is a joy to behold. Right from a very young age, it was his hobby to draw up plans for a house. The house today is the end product of several plans revised and re-revised.
“We are the happiest”, says its proud owner, not in the least awed by the admiring glances of folks who pass by. Antony was particular about one factor. The house had to be more appealing for its convenience and utility than its exterior looks. This is exactly why the family decided to do away with all sorts of design gimmicks. There are, therefore, no embellishments in or out. The senior Antony, his father, mum Mini and sister Tisa were together with Tinu in his decision.
The house is a pretty piece of picture at Kuttillam, Pala. Quite laudable is the modest cost of construction, Rs 50 lakh. The owner managed to complete the house in all its entirety, inluding furnishing, with that amount. On the same plot stood an ancestral house, moth-eaten and falling to bits. The new elevation has come up on the foundations of the old.
Built from scratch
All the rooms in the old structure were set at split levels. The secret behind the style got revealed only when it was pulled down. The house was built upon a huge rock and the rooms were hence built adjusting to the varying levels of the rock. But this time around, the owner went in for a change. A lot of the rock surface had to be blown up to level it up. The rocks blasted out were used for the foundation of the new structure. Being a civil engineer, drawing plans was easy for Tinu.
The cardinal rule while raising the structure was maximum utilisation of space. No nooks or niches to attract dust and no false ceilings to lure cobwebs. This necessitated several changes to the original plan. The single-storied house has three bedrooms and a stair-room along with an L-shaped drawing and dining space. The staircase inside has been set now so that another floor could be raised when needed.
Raw materials
Antony’s first experiment with laterite stones was a disaster and most of them were reduced to bit in the process of careless unloading from a dumper. Finally he had to settle for cement bricks.
One stand-out feature that helped in the construction was the owner’s sketch of the house in 3D format which he had executed with the help of Google SketchUp. All the pillars are square in shape. There are no carvings or engravings on them.
The roof tiles, all second-hand, were washed and re-used. Almost 5,200 tiles were required because of the special roof design.
The wood was bought from Thodupuzha. The main door is in teak finish and looks grand. The rest of the doors and windows have been done up in wild jack (anjili) and jackwood.
A lot of furnishings were self-made and this helped a lot in cutting cost. As the house is by the side of the road, a lot of folks came in with the offer of landscaping which would indirectly be a free advertisement for them. But here too, the owner stuck to his simple design. He ultimately settled for three mango and two coconut trees. An old elanji (bullet wood tree) too stands in the yard with its head held high. The tree offers a lot of shade and is the pride of the family.
