AAPDU GAMNU GHAR

The house is located 25 km away from Baroda in the small village of Vehmar. Many residents of this village have moved abroad, but they continue to hold onto their dream of transforming their inherited old houses into homes for their occasional visits to the country, which they fondly refer to as their “Apda Gaamnu ghar.”

Over the years, the character and architectural style of the village have gone through multiple transformations. This is evident in the disparate variations in the streets and the houses. Some houses retain remnants of their old construction with pitched roofs (patra) and wooden structures, while others have undergone significant and haphazard modernization. The house we’re discussing is owned by a family who initially worked as farmers and now live overseas, visiting only for a few months each year.

For more than 150 years, the house in Vehmar has stood on a wooden structure with shared walls. An “otla” leads into the house, with a series of doors continuing along the length of the building, ultimately opening into an airy courtyard that provides ventilation for all the rear utilities. Due to unsafe structural condition the house had to brought down and rebuilt.

The scale of the proposed house is optimized to cater to their occasional visits, featuring a single lean-to roof that encompasses all the spaces. Wooden members, doors, and elements have been reclaimed from the old structure and will be used in combination with humble finishes, preserving the integrity and the historical connections of the old house and the village.

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