That is my parents home. The house my grandfather built after seeking his fortune in the 20's and 30's in Nairobi. Then he came home to India and instead of going back to Goa bought a very large piece of Hayes Road for the Furtado family. He built two large houses there - one he rented out and one he lived in and then he retired to a life of gentility, raising his family in this lovely house he called 'Pilerne' after the village we come from in Goa.Dad inherited the house, while the second house was left to Uncle Alfred who sold it and an ugly monstrosity is coming up in its place.
Dad has now left the house to us and to keep it in the family we are demolishing it and building exactly where the original house stands. Five sets of flats for the five of us. The fruit trees and the garden remain.
People might say, why cant you keep it - maintaining the house has been very expensive and hopefully we can salvage most of the Italian tiles and burma teak to use in the new building.
My brother John who is one of Bangalore's better known architects plans to build it and NO glass and chrome please, we are hoping for a more Portuguese looking building with our Portuguese ancestry.
It is going to break my heart, I dont want to go there while its being brought down, but life goes on and we all want to live there together anyway, those of us who are in India.
Marianne: so sad that you have to pull it down but it is the best decision in the end to each have independence. I wish my mother would build 4 flats for the four of us in Whitefield but there is not hope from what I can see. Wish I could visit Bangalore but it seems distant at this point. love, Joy
ReplyDeleteI know I am going to be a mess watching the house come down. It holds so many memories of our vacations. I hardly stayed there cause we were in Delhi with Dads work.
ReplyDeleteHey a. M. when are you guys pulling it down? has aunty moved? I have clear memories of when the kings street place came down... and how I hated it .. must have been 12.. so glad to hear that you guys are keeping the garden and trees.. and sticking more or less to the original foot print. Has someone documented the place?
ReplyDeleteI think there are drawings and stuff that Gpa did which Dad kept. My brother John has them. Is that what you mean?
ReplyDeleteI've seen the mango trees being chopped down!!
ReplyDeleteSorry NO! they are not being chopped down at all. We have cut back the branches which needed trimming since now we will have vehicles coming in and out with materials. The mango trees are Malgobas, so we would never do that! However the Jackfruit does not fruit at all so that might go to make way for another tree.
ReplyDelete