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A century-old modern home

The Bantia's single-storey house ensures optimum interaction among family members.

Built over a century ago, the home of the Bantia family in Sikh village has a lot of history.

Umrao Devi, Amit, Surender, Mansi, Jyoti and the two granddaughters Yashitha and Tanishqa Bantia.Umrao Devi, Amit, Surender, Mansi, Jyoti and the two granddaughters Yashitha and Tanishqa Bantia.

Owner of the Bantia chain of furniture showrooms in the city, Surender Bantia, made Hyderabad his home when his father moved here back in the ’60s from Udaipur. Today, he lives with his wife Jyothi, son Amit, daughter-in-law Mansi, his mother Umrao Devi and granddaughters Yashitha and Tanishqa in the palatial house that his father purchased from a Britisher.

“When my father bought this house, the roof was of limestone and used to leak a lot. Back then, it was built in the typical British architectural style including one room behind a room,” recalls Surender. However, a lot has changed since. Today, the house has been remodelled in sync with modern tastes and sensibilities.

Surender Bantia, his wife Jyoti and son Amit pick up all the antique pieces themselves.Surender Bantia, his wife Jyoti and son Amit pick up all the antique pieces themselves.

“Except for the foundation, everything else has been modernised,” says Surender. Apart from renovating the roof, the interiors have been upgraded with some exquisite antiques. He says, “My wife and my son and I like antiques, so every time we travel we pick up something.”

While the total area of their land is approximately five acres, they allocated only one acre for their home, the remaining land has been divided between their showroom and a temple. The house is 6,000 sq ft.

The family last renovated the house over a decade ago. “There has been no need to change anything since,” he adds. The brief he gave his architects included “making the house as comfortable as possible”.

He says, “It’s easy to build a house which is very ‘showy’ but maintaining it becomes difficult. My wife wanted it to be easy to maintain and it serves that purpose.” Also, he insisted on having a one-floor home.

Elaborating on this, he says, “We didn’t want stairs in the house because, my mother can’t climb stairs due to her old age. Two, we have no accessibility issue today and so there is more interaction between the family members.”

Another highlight of the house is the well-maintained garden, which he credits to his wife. The garden has everything from a mango tree to a lime tree to a variety of rose plants.

He says, “She is a good gardener and whenever she travels, she gets new seeds. Sitting by the garden in the morning, sipping hot coffee and listening to the birds chirp makes life seem perfect.”

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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