Painting the portrait of an intimate family home, The Sage Townhouse reprises a 90s residence with colour, ease, and charm as its leitmotifs.

When some homes are built and dreamt of, they become sentient bookmarks in one’s life story. There is a clear distinction between the time before and after the home’s inception. Such is the saga of The Sage Townhouse, an independent abode in one of eastern Bangalore’s plush zip codes that witnessed a complete overhaul of its identity.

Fact File:

Project Name, Location – The Sage Townhouse, Bangalore

Typology and Square Footage – 3-BHK Private Residence, 2,100 Square Feet

Text Credit – Lavanya Chopra

Photography Credit – Parth Swaminath, PHX India   

Design Team – Nain Belliappa, Shifa Parveen

Month and Year of Completion – May 2024

Constructed in the late 1990s, the home came into the family’s possession about 12 years ago. The urban landscape of Tippasandra yielded conventionally designed houses back in the day: petite and boxy residences situated on narrow parcels of land, almost (inescapably) sharing their thresholds with the abutting homes.

In its erstwhile form, the house wore an opaque mien — heavy wood-framed fenestrations veiled with dense grilles that almost prevented daylight from making its way indoors. Inside, the structure lacked spatial flow, generating a maze-like layout that hindered the space’s ability to perform at its optimal comfort. While the bones of the house were somewhat salvageable, the home’s essence craved design intervention that would offer the gift of new beginnings to the inhabitants.

The Sage Townhouse came with an exciting brief, a client who serendipitously found their way to us through a recommendation and a lot of potential waiting to be unearthed! This would be a home for her and her daughter, a space driven by the themes of comfort and new beginnings embedded with a sense of belonging. We had our work cut out for us! The residence had been passed through multiple hands of ownership over the past three decades and needed a complete facelift. The intent was to give the mother-daughter duo a space that felt fresh and like their own while making room for the years yet to come.

Serenading sage as a hue every chance it gets, the residence’s name is a homage to the colour most loved by the lady of the home. It stands independently yet maintains an intimate connection with its neighbours.

On our drawing board were influences that leaned towards minimalist, colour-driven, and warm nuances. The design style is a fusion of earthy Indian characteristics (honouring the family’s roots in Kerala) and Spanish-inspired themes. The two styles shared bold doses of colour, attention to detail, tons of texture, and an ingrained feeling of flow between connected spaces. The site’s northern frontier was occupied by an existing property, blocking the influx of daylight indoors. One dominant solution involved replacing the current windows with lighter systems devoid of mullions fitted with fine-grade stainless steel meshes, instantly enhancing the illumination indoors, executed by Tentuff.

A heart-to-heart between colour, character, and fond recollection is palpable as one waltzes into the residence, arriving within the embrace of the living room. The floor grid’s deep, rectilinear form lacked a dedicated foyer that could create a moment of pause. The priority for the family was to maximise the number of people that could be comfortably seated within. Hence, doing away with the idea of a foyer was intentional.

The honey-tinted teakwood door poses as the bygone dwelling’s heirloom, a reminder of its yesteryears, now restored to its former glory. The walls of the space, a warm eggshell, have been layered in segments with wainscoting, adding enhanced dimension to the room. The rundown floors are sheathed with vitrified tiles resembling oak tones, lending the space a snug, homestead-like feel. The newly installed windows serve as pristine eyes for The Sage Townhouse, offering refreshed views of the neighbourhood while maximising the presence of light that sieves in through the gossamer drapery.

Corals, indigo, and cobalt blue come playfully uncorked, celebrating the multiplicity of colour, and cultivating a lived-in appeal. The sleek silhouette of the sofa meets the allure of the Chesterfield loveseat and the artisanal flair of the interwoven rattan and wood armchairs, summoning forth myriad influences. The coffee table is a mosaic of 4x4 inch Talavera-style tiles held over a veneer-clad base, introducing pattern into the colour-blocked milieu. The Jaipur Rugs carpet bears hints of the dominant hues and Aztec inspiration, tying the room together. The focal wall features two ledges adorned with curios and family photographs. A framed Kashida shawl, showcasing Kashmir’s intricate embroidery and vibrant hues from the client’s travels, replaces the mundane television, an addition we quite loved.

Hopscotching between the Mid-Century Modern era and contemporary identity, the dining area exudes warmth. A picture-perfect spot for an intimate mother-daughter breakfast on sunny weekends or a soirée with loved ones, the space sits in conjunction with the home’s communal areas and acts as a spatial pause within the layout. A pedestal-style teakwood base meets the white quartz top and pairs with the nostalgia-inducing rattan chairs, upholstered in a dreamy sage. A retro ‘fandelier’ from Fanzart presides over the space, nodding to the overarching aesthetic that straddles the vintage and modern nuances.

When standing within this section of the townhouse, one is privy to the newly incorporated butler’s pantry. Spanning 10 feet in length, the former space was a part of a derelict passageway that linked to the home’s exterior and took away from usable square footage. A sliver of the view reveals a sea of patterned tiles held between oak-toned cabinetry, stowing away a trove of crockery, cookbooks, and culinary miscellanea.

Situated off the fringes of the dining space, the now powder room used to be the grungy scullery in the original blueprint. I love the confluence of the design styles we have incorporated. It embodies the coming together of gritty and intricate details that give the petite space an impactful character. Large-format concrete tiles claim the floors and ascend the walls as glossy, grey-toned geometric tiles. The wall’s upper stratum is covered in a dainty, powder blue-hued floral wallpaper. Teak makes a recurrent debut, creating a vanity station with turned legs while gold accents spruce up the powder room’s luxe quotient.

Found through a grainy wood trim, the kitchen is a symphony of monochromes, a bold departure from the colour-doused palette of the home. A freshly fitted ribbon window traces the wall, fixing the interior’s line of sight on the neighbouring bosky plot. The design journey with the kitchen is a masterstroke embodying the melding of style and function. The kitchen’s L-form configuration incorporates the dual-purposes of a utility area and heavy-duty cooking. It packs in functionality in every inch of its conception! The space anchors enough storage for the family’s current requirements and bears umpteen ability to grow with their needs.

An unconventional choice of deep black jets across the cabinetry, punctuated only by gold hardware and the rattan infills. The patterned carpet of Moroccan tiles below riffs off the glossy, subway tile-clad backsplash, the latter fuelling the kitchen’s inherent luminosity. Aside from dedicated slots for run-of-the-mill kitchen gadgets, an appliance garage holds more, and an unassuming niche forms a coffee bar for the client, a true-blue connoisseur of the drink.  

The tapestry of warm umber tones and eclectic patterns continues to imprint along the stairwell’s trail. The volume stems from a meticulously planned storage unit below and a covert reading nook for the teenage daughter! The ornate balustrades were retained, adding rosewood-lined treads and vivid, tile-studded risers.

Tucked into the home’s mezzanine floor, the ensuite master is a love letter to the colour sage — a honed balance between earthiness and tranquillity. A deeper laminate species scouted from Square Foot Indiapervades the bedroom, setting a warmer tone. A tufted suede bed in sage takes centerstage, flanked by nightstands carrying a distressed finish. The floral still-life painting references the home’s soulful essence, a mishmash of crimson, ochre, and violet.

The preceding layout was reimagined to supplant a narrow, redundant balcony with a walk-in closet section. The addition of this area gives the room an elevated stature of function. The transition deepens with wardrobes anchored on either side, a full-length mirror adding to the space’s depth, and a vanity station, all finished in warm white PU. Linen-silk fabric fills up the transparent segments of the shutters, adding to visual texture.

A tryst between aqua, white, and black headlines the narrative in the master bath, elevating the perception of light within the compact square footage. The sharp black vanity and Jaquar sanitary fittings add definition, contrasting the resident whites and warm blue-green tones.

The family lounge is a bijou nook by the landing, marking one’s arrival on the home’s first level. A dynamic burst of electric blue catches one’s gaze by surprise, adorning the colossal built-in bookshelf, which houses the TV, reads, and board games. The backdrop is a tactile spread of Plaster of Paris brick tiles, complementing the rush of blue. The cool grey sofa and ottoman by IKEA are the epicentre of the space, providing comfort and discreet storage.

The daughter’s bedroom is a haven for the young lady who loves whimsy, florals, and pink! The intricately sculpted teakwood bed had been in the client’s family for years, and the perfect home was found in the newly envisioned space. A flurry of delicate, watercolour florets softly cascade over the wallpaper, echoing the blush tones omnipresent in the soft furnishing and linen. The Love for White bedding portrays an array of dragonflies frozen in flight, bolstering the room’s charm!

Existing wardrobes were refurbished with mirrored panels and a coat of PU, lending them a new lease of life. An open-faced bookshelf has been given a fresh pair of shutters, infilled with French, glazed panes. A range of heirloom furniture also crafted in teak encompassing the chest of drawers, study desk, and bookshelf were integrated into the layout, interweaving the room’s past and present.

The daughter's bathroom is a minimalist delight, representing a bold application of colour and shapes! A double-hued tessellation of pinks takes over the floors, scaling onto the walls as white subway tiles. Quartz beading defines the datum between the white tiles and the herringbone-style blush tiles, creating a smooth transition between the varieties. The cool grey vanity is a neutral insert of colour, balancing the space’s composition with its pared-down presence.

Drenched in bright southern light, the guest bedroom showcases a medley of the family’s on-hand furniture, inventively rearranged to refresh the room’s layout. The built-in wardrobe was redesigned and installed, fitting right in with the space’s persona.

To us, this home is the first of many when it comes to exploring uncharted territories, a realised iteration of the dreams of a family! We could design and execute everything within the stipulated timeline, and it took a very hardworking village. The most valuable testimonial is that this home symbolises a new beginning for two wonderful women who get to build and love the life they make together. And that is priceless.

The Sage Townhouse marks Houseof9Design’s first stint in the realm of gut renovations, an avenue that holds abundant promise but also a torrent of surprises at every bend in the road! The residence is a testament to mindful intervention, highlighting the alchemy of blending elements from a bygone era with those of a new tomorrow.