In Bangalore’s quaint Basavanagudi locality on the old Kanakapura Road is a sprawling 110-year-old house that is set apart from the apartments that have come up around it. High ceilings, red oxide flooring, and antique furniture dominate the interiors of the house constructed in 1907 by MN Krishna Rao, the then Dewan of Mysore.
The house has 10 rooms, four big halls, and an open courtyard. The lush greenery outside invites a visitor to sit back in one of the old rocking chairs, turn on the 1930s Scott radio, and listen to the strains of a lost era.
The MN Krishna Rao house is one of just a handful of heritage houses in Bangalore dating back to the colonial era. Many of these houses used elements of the Art Deco style popular during the 1920s and 1930s.
Bangalore also has a number of ‘colonial’ bungalows from the time of the British when they established a cantonment in the city. These bungalows followed the classic or Gothic style of architecture with common elements that include:
- Mangalore-tiled sloping roof
- Decorative parapets
- Stained glass windows
- Balustered railings
The Villa Pottipati in Malleswaram, now a hotel, is a historical 19th-century house set in a huge garden filled with Gulmohar and Jacaranda trees. The house is a fusion of Gothic and South Indian style of architecture prevalent at that time. Granite pillars support the interiors, and the skylight evokes the high ceilings that ensured that rooms were cool even during summers. The gorgeous Balabrooie heritage building on Palace Road, which is more than 150 years old, follows classical European architecture with its ornate pillars and facades. On the same road, the Manikyavelu Mansion has a large porch and pinnacled gables common at that time it was built.
While these gracious buildings and houses infuse a sense of nostalgia to Bangalore’s past, new-age architects are scrambling to incorporate elements of art deco in the modern homes they help build. Semi-circular balconies grace a villa in the posh Whitefield locality.
The famous sun motif popular in art deco adorns a window in the living room of an apartment in Sarjapur. Bold and solid colours dominate the interiors of another house in Banaswadi. With just a few strokes, architects can become artists, making houses look fashionable, expensive, and evoking a longing for the past.
