Serenading its quaint and greenery-drenched views, The Raintree Home is a residence that relishes the Deccan’s lure while steadfastly celebrating a modern ethos. Roosted in an upscale gated community in Northern Bangalore, the home sits nestled amid verdant, old city trees and reprises the experience of dwelling within the Garden City. 

The dwelling is christened as an ode to its views, focused upon a grove of sculptural raintrees, bedecked in their pinkish-grey blooms and thick foliage. This sight laces the backdrop against which the home comes alive, making the outdoors an eternal protagonist in the abode’s persona.

Fact File:

Project Name, Location – The Raintree Home, Bangalore

Typology and Square Footage – 4-BHK Residential Apartment, 2,500 Square Feet

Text Credit – Lavanya Chopra

Photography Credit – Parth Swaminath (Photographix India)   

Design Team – Nain Belliappa, Ritushree Belur (Design Lead)

Year of Completion –2022

Inhabited by the Shetty’s, this home witnessed us working closely with a dynamic mother-daughter duo, Shakunthala and Sahana. Sahana had been an acquaintance for years, and this project enabled us to embark on a supremely collaborative journey with her and the family to reimagine what their shared home would look like in the modern day, paying utmost attention to everyone’s needs and vision.

Hailing originally from Mangalore, the family’s design brief harked back to the decadence of traditional, vernacular design, albeit with a palpable, modern undertone.

Our inspiration was the family’s penchant for nature, plants, and the rich landscape of Indian art. We took cues from these elements to weave together a transitional design style, which was staunchly rooted in its history and sense of belonging. These characteristics translated into a layered and energised palette of hues and predominantly natural materials within the home, creating a modern-rustic oasis. Our choice of colours and raw materiality has become a means of moulding this home’s story and ambience with undeniable conviction.

At The Raintree Home, the design vocabulary dons a nuanced design trajectory, revelling in a concoction of subtle grandeur, nostalgia, and warmth. Contemporary living finds itself melding seamlessly into the instinctively grounded look and feel. We have attempted to channel the aura of spacious, tropical homes, which take to the outdoors with a lot of heart! Abundant sunlight, a smorgasbord of hues, the omnipresence of umber touches, and the organic flow between shared and intimate spaces define the apartment, distilling the traditional home’s experience into an urban sanctuary.

Like most pandemic-afflicted endeavours, the project experienced a lull in its completion, creating an unanticipated pause. However, the staggered yet cohesive design process assumed the spotlight in the meantime, preparing the team to steam on ahead once the site was ready for activity. Additionally, the studio chose to work with only a curated roster of vendors, ensuring the integrity of finishes, details, and craft that were vital to the overarching design style being emulated.

Immersive and exuding zen generously, the foyer is one’s initial encounter with the home. The original space was extended on the inside minorly in compliance with the civil alteration regulations, accentuating the linearity of the zone to create a well-defined entryway and focal area. The patterned sepia tiles extend into the space, conjuring memories of the timeless Athangudi cement tiles. This portion of the flooring is flanked on the other side by hardwood parquet, instilling a tactile sense of rawness across most communal sections of The Raintree Home.

The elegant, black stone-clad wall resembles natural slate, adding a layered dimension to the area and a dramatic flair! The miniature, carved console by The Purple Turtles grounds the spot, hosting a gilded Buddha sculpture that sets the home’s tone while providing an elevated contrast. 

 Creating a skin of privacy, a partition system in wood and brass borders the foyer and shares its threshold with the dining area. A custom, carved console sits juxtaposed against the partition system, with a circular mirror and lights on the opposite end. The interplay of solid and voided sections allows one to catch glimpses of the communal spaces while lending the foyer an open, yet enclosed quality formerly absent in the unedited floor plan.  

 The light-filled and warm dining space abuts the foyer and melds into the living area, creating the communal core of the residence. The conjoint zones are linked by a white brick-clad wall, creating the perfect base to anchor the dining space's bold wood and olive-green accents.

Created by Cane Boutique, an oblong, white marble top rests over the turned wood legs to create the family dining table. The Mid-Century Modern-inspired chair seats are adorned in a light, floral base, and olive-hued backrests, underpinning the penchant for nature in the home.

The area is further delineated by a bespoke, carved console to store the family’s curation of cutlery and crockery, embellished with relief work depicting botanical inspiration and the blooms of the Birds of Paradise variety. In the far corner, a Brassia plant rests within an antique planter by Studio Palasa, adding the leitmotif of greens to the space. Over the console, a composition of engraved printing blocks creates a collage to iterate the home’s inclination towards its Indian roots.

The series of teak veneer-clad rafters creates a visual progression and movement across the ceiling’s canvas and moves into the living space from the dining area; these also add an instant lift to the interior volume. The multi-globe amber glass pendant nurtures the quiet decadence in the room in alliance with the touches of brass seen in hardware and artefacts.

Soaked in soft, south-eastern daylight, the living space echoes a tale of an experience that belongs to the past and present with a matched gusto! The hardwood parquet flooring strings together the floor plan, adding a palpable layer of artisanship and intricacy to a home that values these facets wholeheartedly.

The design intent while concocting this space was simple; we visualised the family and their loved ones spending long hours in its intimacy and comfort, and our choice of elements had to preserve and promote precisely that feeling.

The deep emerald leather sofa by Chester’s India is the linchpin, beckoning one to sit awhile. The duo of armchairs by Magari accompanying the sofa reminisces a laid-back afternoon in the plantations. In contrast, the tropical print-clad cane sofa adds to the bucolic allure of the space. The solid coffee table celebrates its sculpted form and open grain while complementing the subtle floral cameos in the area rug and soft furnishings. 

Indian art forms play a vital role in enhancing the spirit of The Raintree Home! The white brick wall introduces a punch of texture to the linear volume. We have superimposed these surfaces with Pichwai and Madhubani paintings, allowing the space to come alive with a controlled yet impactful dose of colour and patterns. In addition, the minimalist pendants and picture lights heighten the ambience, making the living space feel like a gallery by dusk.

Inhabiting a niche between the threshold of the dining and living areas, the prayer nook is an inherently pivotal part of the Shetty’s daily routine. The ebony stone wall continues to sheathe the interior of the niche, only to be contrasted by the burnished brass ornaments that fill the corner with radiance! The double-tiered veneer cabinets have been topped off by quartz stone slabs, creating a robust prayer space that is minimal and opulent in equal doses.  

Perched perfectly to frame vast vistas of the bustling city below, the kitchen is steeped in the seduction of moody hues, pattern play, and hearty natural light. A deep forest green PU tint swathes the lower cabinets, coupled idyllically with a warm cream on the top. The backsplash is a matrix of the rhombus, handmade glazed tiles that add to the intentionally imperfect backdrop of the kitchen.

The foyer tiles continue into the kitchen space, warming up the area instantly to initiate an equilibrium between bold and soothing! The kitchen accommodates a coffee and wine bar off to one edge, dramatically leveraging the space to serve an optimised function for the frequent hosts that the Shetty’s are! The adjoining utility space takes the design quotient higher by many notches by adding umpteen combinations of storage for miscellaneous items alongside dedicated zones for the dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer, all organised meticulously.

The passageway which branches into the home’s bedrooms is doused in a similar design language, straddled across two eras. The parquet floors are met by a striped, beige, and white wallpaper by Kosh Furnishing Studio, which envelopes the area while embedding it with a perception of movement. Reeded glass and brass pendants dot the passageway, washing the zone in a diffused light. A vivid painting in black portrays a divine vision of the Raas Leela, depicting the imagery of Lord Krishna and his deities in Vrindavan under the star-studded night sky.  

Channelling the serenity that nature brings to one’s spaces, the ensuite master bedroom makes for the quintessential spot to unwind at the end of a long day! Washed in a minty-sage hue, the focal wall has been finished with a panelling detail, nodding to the home’s penchant for a dated charm.

The teakwood bed and nightstands crafted by Tusker Katha inject a welcome dose of texture to the otherwise pared-down space. This vignette is further graced by the pair of textured glass pendants by The White Teak Company, a botanical art print of blue wildflowers sourced from Calcuttan Gallery, and linens from Sarita Handa which serve as an inspiration for the choice of traditional drapery in the bedroom.

Fringing the room along one edge, the custom wardrobes are topped off in a cream PU shade, also layered with panelling details, and finally, brass hardware by Studio Made. On the other end of the room, a floating, two-levelled console in teak veneer extends itself as a dresser unit, while a standalone chest of drawers adds to the storage within the room’s volume.

A microcosm of comfort and modernist sensibilities, the daughter’s bedroom is spearheaded by an alchemy of grey, blue, black, and white in perfect proportions. Inhabited by Sahana during her visits, the space epitomises ease while leaning into a strong expression of colour.

The subdued cacti-motif wallpaper by Kosh Furnishing Studio is the humble objet d’art in the bedroom against which the plush, grey-toned bed (crafted by Wooden-It-Be-Nice) rests. The neutral Sarita Handa soft furnishings complement the textured form of the Rugberry area rug, adding interest to the space.

The two black nightstands introduce a compelling visual contrast, riffing off the frosted glass and brass pendants which levitate over them. The adjoining wall anchors a few key elements, namely the teal-hued swivel reading chair, a succulent-filled tall planter, the fluted chest of drawers, the triad of Claymen Envy Suppressor sculptures, and a brass-rimmed full-length mirror which amplifies the room’s feeling of space and light. The symphony of teal travels further onto the panelled wardrobes, designed to anchor sections of mirrors which add to the interplay of light and reflection within the space.

Wearing its identity soaked in simplicity, the guest bedroom has a sunny and light mien! A simple wainscoting detail runs across the perimeter of the space, forming the perfect milieu for a homestead-like feel! The bed is an heirloom piece from the client’s family’s collection, resplendent in its rosewood details and construction. The antique brass floor lamp and the traditional Indian mythology-based art harmonise the confluence of modern and rooted sensibilities. A wardrobe with grooving details in a cool grey tone grounds one edge of the bedroom, fuelling the cheery and inviting guise of the space.

The fourth bedroom in the layout was reconceived as a family lounge for the inhabitants to enjoy their shared time. The room is defined by a rust-red Gokul Pichwai wallpaper from the Sabyasachi for Nilaya capsule collection, against which the deep jade sofa makes a debut with floral-themed cushions to tie the look together. This portion of the room is imagined atop a taupe-hued, textured rug, harbouring an array of concentric forms. A shiplap-clad wall conceals the network of wires inconspicuously, creating an immaculate and uncluttered background for the cane and wood television credenza.

While conversations, memories, and comfort make a house a home, one cannot discount the impact a specific and fitting design style has on the experience of inhabiting a residence! We are so grateful for what we have been able to create in hindsight; the home induces joy, represents the Shetty’s way of being, and sees the collision of old and new in the most romantic light! The residence represents a feeling of calm while the city unravels around it. What I love most is The Raintree Home’s ease of living in duality, holding onto the past and present with matched grace.