House of Seven Courtyards

The house had been closed room by room over forty years — courtyards roofed over, verandas glazed in, the long central hall partitioned into bedrooms. The family wanted the plan back.

We removed what had been added rather than adding anything new. Four of the seven courtyards were reopened to the sky. The athangudi tiles were lifted, catalogued, and relaid where earlier work had cut through them.

The only new material is brass: door pulls, the kitchen counter edge, and a rainwater channel that runs the length of the second courtyard.