A forever home in Goa

Dusting off the bones

Built in the 1920s by Dr. Aquilino Almeida, a trailblazing surgeon of his time, the home’s construction process spanned over three years back in its heyday. Its 1,000 sq ft living room, adjoining a large parlour, was once abuzz with guests swaying to music at balls. Hence, despite the complete rehaul required, Paul worked around the space’s rich architecture to preserve as many of its original traits as possible.

The process was rife with challenges, accompanied by an ever-growing repair list. “Almost every aspect of the home had to be renovated, including the roof, doors and windows. The old masonry had to be strengthened,” Paul and Rubeena rattle off. But the space’s vast potential was staring them right at the face: right from the trefoil arches to the mosaic-laden bedrooms. Piecing these markers of history back together proved to be the most rewarding task of all.

Building a villa with modern amenities

A herringbone-brick-laden driveway, complete with Juniper trees lining the sides, leads the way towards the estate’s alighting point. But there’s more than what meets the eye here. As this path is laid atop a Geocell-reinforced gravel path, it allows water to seep through, aiding water harvesting and preventing soil erosion. This unique amalgamation of old-world aesthetics with modern technology sets the tone for what follows later inside the villa.

Complete with flower beds, a koi pond and a vintage, cast-iron French fountain, the outdoors carry a distinctly European feel. But as soon as the home’s facade comes into view, its Indo-Portuguese bones are immediately discernible. A hint? True to Goan homes and their penchant for colour, the sea-green exterior leads the way towards the home’s storied interiors. As Rubeena affirms, “Paul and I conducted meticulous research on the look and feel of old grand homes of Goa’s past. The inspiration of this project was always the old house in itself.”

The main hall reinforces this sentiment. Spread over 1,200 sq ft with 26 ft high ceilings and mosaic flooring, it brings, in the words of Paul and Rubeena, “a ‘colonial club’ kind of vibe”. Splintered into three sections by two arches, it branches off into a dining area, a library-cum-bar and a sun lounge — a transitional space blurring boundaries between the sprawling outdoors.

The Master Bedroom matches this space in both scale and height, with antique light fittings and Belgian tile flooring. With five doors that open into three Juliet balconies, a reading nook and a large ensuite, it boasts of unmatched old-world charm. The unmistakable highlight, though? A 350 sq ft master dresser, fitted with a vintage full-length mirror and a French dresser, is one of the many antiques lining the space.

The space’s original typology was overhauled to accommodate its multitude of suites. For example, the old kitchen and store were combined to create Suite 5, a space with an adjoining loft and a one-of-a-kind ensuite. The adjoining paddy fields were bridged by an expansive Gazebo, complete with an infinity-edge swimming pool, jacuzzi, and restored railings sourced from a century-old Bombay building.

Materials that bridge time

With pops of bordeaux, sage green walls and blues aplenty, the home is ripe with colour. The palette plays a two-fold role, marking a distinction between the formal spaces and the more informal ones. As Rubeena explains, “The sun room near the doors had to be bright, while the living area had to be more formal. So we carefully chose the colours, fabrics and textures to create the distinction.” But the true star of the space is its materiality. From top to bottom, the focus has remained on reinstating the home’s original feel. In tandem, inspired by an age-old pattern seen in multiple Goan homes, the verandahs are fitted with diamond-shaped clay tiles carved from three different coloured stones.

All bedrooms boast mosaic flooring, “painstakingly hand cut by skilled artisans at the site to synthesise with the design language of the old, vintage floors,” explains Paul. The result? “Over 13 different floor design patterns, each prettier than the other.”

The home’s original structure often helped relay clues to what the restoration process needed. For example, the walls, already boasting high-quality lime plaster walls, required more of the same material reapplied using the same age-old process used decades ago. With endless antiques and objets d’art lining the interiors, the additional soft furnishings, curios and tableware have been sourced and carefully curated by Paul and The Verve Collective, a styling atelier run by Rubeena herself.

But the real challenge, as restoration projects often pose, lay in amalgamating modern comforts into an age-old structure. Up came air conditioning ducts, heated pools, jacuzzis and power, security systems — all hidden from sight, a feat achievable through meticulous planning. “The other challenge for me was to get all the details right. To find the right balance of ornamentation without ostentation,” conclude Rubeena and Paul. “It’s a fine line, and I think we walked it well.”

Read more: A 100-year old home in Goa’s Parra undergoes a restoration by Studio Praia