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In these outdoor dining spaces, a visual feast of design inspirations come to the fore as indoor convenience and outdoor elegance merge seamlessly. From cantilevered decks with gossamer curtains to serene garden alcoves, from stylish patios to observatories flooded with natural light, these outdoor dining nooks beckon one to savour meals and conversations against a backdrop of flourishing greens.
A 115-Year-Old Colonial Bungalow In Lush Coonoor
"We always tend to measure history through humans but never via plants. I often gaze at the 100-year-old ficus or the native 300-year-old woodland tree and wonder what they must have witnessed over the years,” says Pavitra Rajaram as she stands at the entrance gate to Nenagh, a 115-year-old bungalow, nestled in the Nilgiris in Coonoor, that she has lovingly restored along with her husband Paul Abraham. Pavitra, an AD100 designer and a prolific aesthete, and Paul—a banker but truly an avid historian and collector, as well as the founder of the Sarmaya Arts Foundation—have always lived in stunning homes but never in one that they created together. Nenagh for them is a dream fulfilled.
The most magical part of the house, however, is the dining observatory, where Pavitra has unleashed her eclectic genius. A glass-encased conservatory engulfed by the branches of a century-old fig tree has been carved out of empty space between two rooms. While Tanjore glass paintings compete for attention with larger-than-life botanicals painted on the walls, it is the perfect spot to study the sky that goes from a pristine blue dotted with fleece-white clouds during the day to a dramatic mix of orange and purple in the evenings and finally to a jet-black sheet, spray painted with a million stars in the night. - Priti Mahajan
Also read: Inside Ananya Panday's first home in Mumbai designed by Gauri Khan
A Bamboo-And-Stone-Clad Holiday Home In Pune
Since the pandemic, our homes have become our sanctuaries—a place where we live, work and dream. Since the past year, many city folks who own weekend homes decided to turn them into retreats for longer stays. One such family home is located on the outskirts of Pune, built on a plot a kilometre away from their farms. This vacation home was conceptualised and designed by SAK Designs. “From cityscapes to farmlands, a drive with varying skylines is a journey in itself as one reaches the destination—a home to a client who preferred a raw and rustic experience over a luxury stay. Though the family owned the land, they were not sure how to use it. I fell in love with the site which was on a much higher level than the plains, with a river passing by and had various levels to play with,” says Ashish Kesurvala, principal at SAK Designs.
“In our plan, we tried to play with levels in and around the house, creating artificial contours within the landscape. For instance, the pool sits on a level much lower than the house—there is a cantilevered deck, floating balconies, and a manmade lake for fish farming,” reveals Khooshbu Thakkar, senior architect of the project. The highlight of the common seating area is the view of the flora that is visible through the French windows. The dense green belt alongside the living room extends to the dining area as well. The sprawling deck is the perfect spot for spending quality time with loved ones. “In the morning and evening, one can see the sunrise and sunset from the deck with the vast greenery around, making it a timeless experience,” says Thakkar. The architects added a steel frame with ropes and supporting white fabric folds hanging overhead to give it a very resort-like feel. - Kriti Saraswat-Satpathy
A 30-Year-Old Bengaluru Home With A French-Style Patio
When it came to the renovation of this three-decade-old family home in Bengaluru—to spruce it up into a contemporary second home of seamless functionality—it was natural to want to preserve its vintage value. The splendid 8,340-square-foot property christened the IVY Lane Villa stands testament to the grandeur of a bygone era, painstakingly composed by the homeowner’s family over the years. A sanctuary of childhood memories and antique elements, this home’s nuanced renovation was handed over to Tejaswini P, principal designer at Furbishy India.
Nayan Soni
In a bid to add colour to this pared-back composition, the designer plays with floral prints, rugs and curated furniture such as a beautiful ivy-green console in the living room. The deep wooden tones of the living room set the tone for a space anchored in cozy warmth, while the curved wooden rafters on the ceiling and the antique chandelier steal the show. The geometry of the rafters appears again in the quaint patio, where the skylight allows the French-inspired touches with industrial flair to really pop. Against a backdrop of rustic, textured walls, arched openings and framed with pink Bougainvillea flowers, the space offers the perfect nook to unwind. - Alisha Lad
This Spacious Gujarat Bungalow Is Built Around An Orchard
When the clients first approached Nupur Shah and Saahil Parikh, principal architects of the Mumbai-based We Design Studio, their initial brief was to refurbish an existing bungalow. However, on visiting the site in Karamsad, Gujarat, it was evident that the decades-old structure did not do justice to its setting amidst a lush orchard, surrounded by hundreds of mature mango trees. “While we decided that it would be best to tear down the old house and start with a clean slate, we were also conscious about not cutting any trees,” reveals Shah. To aid in this, the floorplate of the new construction was restricted to the extents of the old house; and even the driveway was laid out such that it wove around the trees.
Towards the other end of the ground floor is the more domestic dining area, with a trio of arches leading to a cozy lounge—the perfect spot for a post-lunch siesta perhaps. Verandahs envelop the north and east facades of the house and the outdoor seating and dining areas here let the clients make the most of the temperate months of the year. - Kunal Bhatia
Also read: 3 nostalgic Gujarat homes with a maximalist, old-world charm
This Spanish-Style Alibag Villa Nestles Within Mango Trees
A once-upon-a-time, a sleepy hamlet along the coast of the Arabian Sea, today, Alibag is a respite for Mumbaikars seeking a quick getaway from the big city. For a Parsi-Catholic couple—who owned a few holiday homes across the state of Maharashtra—the village of Aawas offered the perfect plot of land for their next retreat. Built by architect Chaitaniya Karnik, and spread across 3,500-square-feet, Hacienda is a tastefully designed bungalow where the outdoors seamlessly blend with the interiors.
“The house has been designed to accommodate the couple’s heirloom collections. Most of these pieces were restored or reupholstered to blend in with the rest of the home’s interiors,” says Karnik. The medieval-style custom-built dining table is paired with a set of century-old chairs. The wall to the left opens completely to the outdoors, which also has a dining table made from an old door. Both dining settings have doors that lead to the kitchen. The verandah outside leads to the lawns, with the swimming pool and tea-house style cabana at one end. - Ela Das
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