A few years ago, Ashraf and Amina entrusted me with drawing the plan for their dream home near Thalassery. I soon understood that the couple had differing opinions about the size of their house. The wife wanted all the amazing facilities even if the expenses go beyond their budget while the husband looked as helpless as an ATM machine.
Ashraf and Amina are parents to three children who are past high school. The couple wanted to settle in their hometown, after spending years abroad, wishing a peaceful life. So, after discussions and debates, they presented their demands to me. The family wanted five bedrooms and three kitchens in the house, all of which could be arranged only if the structure had an area of at least 4000 sqft.
I expressed my reluctance to be a part of this project as I was against building such a huge house with no purpose. I couldn’t accept their demand for an additional guest room when they actually needed just four bedrooms. In this modern age, not even close relatives sleep over at night. I explained that spacious balconies, bedrooms that were as vast as football fields and big bathrooms were unnecessary additions. However, Amina, a homemaker, was in awe of the contemporary kitchens and other modern luxuries.
She wanted a modular kitchen, just like the model displayed in the showroom. They had no intention of cooking in this kitchen and wanted to boast of it as a designer element in the house. Around Rs 7 – 8 lakh was spent to build this show kitchen with hobs that were never lighted. Granite slabs were paved above the kitchen boards and other fittings without concrete proofing. The second one is the working kitchen, where particle board and granite are used. You could easily imagine whether this kitchen would stand the test of time as our cuisine uses oil and water and stains masalas a lot.
The third kitchen was a traditional style smokeless hearth, which I was sure would not be burned after boiling the milk as part of the housewarming ritual. Besides, they wanted an additional work area that was really spacious. Amina wasn’t ready to give up her dream kitchen complex that would waste at least 750 – 800 sqft area. I backed out of the project as I couldn’t imagine designing a house catering to their unreasonable demands. But someone else obliged and designed a house exactly as they had wanted.
A year later, when I saw Ashraf again, he looked different. I could sense sadness and dejection in his voice when he said, ‘You were right. I spent 70 per cent of my savings on that house. I had to sell the plot surrounding the house for my kids’ education and marriage. Now, we are mired in debt.’
The house lost its grace as they couldn’t even afford to do the maintenance or painting work. Ashraf and Amina are the only residents as their children no longer live with them. All the bedrooms on the upper floor remain locked as no one occupies them. Meanwhile, Amina struggles to clean the ground floor regularly. When Ashaf spoke this, I couldn’t help but think about hundreds of others who had lost money and peace of mind just because they had built a house.
Children are bound to move away when they grow up, and they become guests who visit us occasionally. There are hundreds of mansions in Kerala that remain deserted, with just old parents as the residents. These houses, which have an area of at least 4000 – 5000 sqft, have become ‘ghost’ houses without proper maintenance and cleaning.
(Jayan Bilathikulam is an architectural designer)
