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The Experience
The whole house, from the door upwards
A house is not a set of rooms. It is a sequence: what you see from the street, what the stairwell does with the light, and how long it takes before you stop noticing that you are a guest. Three guest floors, finished in different moods, and nobody has tried to even them out. None of them is the good floor.
The arrangement
A floor is a household
Every guest floor is the same plan. What changes between them is the light, the height and the materials — never the layout.
Rooms are taken one at a time. With enough people, a floor becomes yours.
- Two guest bedrooms, sharing a common bathroom
- One master bedroom, with a walk-in closet and an attached bathroom
- A balcony off the master bedroom
- A living room, dining area and kitchen, shared only by that floor
The same on Floors 1, 2 and 3.
Three floors. Then the terrace.
Floor 1
The easiest floor to arrive on.
Floor 1 is deliberately unremarkable, and that is its strength. It is the floor that feels most like an ordinary, comfortable home — the kind you have stayed in before and did not have to learn.
The living room has somewhere to sit and somewhere to put a cup down. The balcony faces outward, so you hear the neighbourhood before you see it.
Floor 2
The same plan, one floor further from the street.
Quieter, being further from the road. The light arrives later in the day and stays longer.
Families and small groups often take this floor whole, because it is the easiest one to be a household on.
Floor 3
Where the materials start speaking.
Something changes on Floor 3. The surfaces get louder — not brighter exactly, but more present. Handmade tiles run through the floors here, each one carrying the small irregularities of having been made rather than manufactured.
- Athangudi-style tiles, laid by hand
The colour is warm and mineral: ochre, leaf green, oxide red, chalk white. It came out of the tiles and then spread to everything else. Guests who like this floor tend to like it immediately.
Terrace
Above the third floor, and shared by everybody.
At the top the house stops being floors and becomes sky. Part of the terrace is under a pergola and part of it is open, there are planters hung along the beams, and a carved wooden swing at one end. The whole neighbourhood is laid out below it.
- Open to everyone staying in the house
It belongs to no single floor, which is exactly why it is where people end up — usually late, after the heat has gone out of the day and the city has put its lights on. Nothing up here is scheduled and nothing up here is booked.
The details
What is shared, and what is not
The questions people write in and ask. Answered here so nobody has to.
What is shared on each floor?
A living room, a dining area, a kitchen and a balcony. All four are reserved for the people staying on that floor — nobody from another floor uses them.
The two guest bedrooms share a common bathroom between them. The master bedroom has its own.
What is in the kitchen?
A microwave, a bar fridge, an electric kettle, cutlery and crockery. Enough to make tea, keep things cold, and reheat what arrives.
Is there an active kitchen?
No. There is no stove and no chimney, and no cooking setup of any kind. Meals cannot be prepared here — the kitchen is for keeping and reheating, not for cooking.
How is food arranged?
South Indian homemade organic food is available on request. North Indian food can be arranged too, if you ask for it. All of it vegetarian — the house is pure veg.
It is sourced when you ask, not served on a schedule. There is no fixed menu and no set price — say what you would like and we will tell you what is possible.
Can we book a whole floor?
Yes. Rooms are given out one at a time, so a floor fills up room by room — but with enough people the whole floor is yours, and its living room, dining area, kitchen and balcony come with it.
Can we bring children?
Yes. Children under 10 stay free when accompanied by a parent.
Tell us how many are coming when you write, so we can suggest the right floor. It does not add a bed to a room.
What should we know about the terrace?
It is open to everyone staying in the house, at any hour. Part of it is covered and part of it is not, and there is a swing at one end.
It is not a room and it cannot be booked. It belongs to no single floor, which is why people end up there.
Food
A quiet extension of the house
Meals are not a service here, they are an offer. South Indian homemade organic food can be arranged on request, and North Indian food too if that is what you would rather eat. The house is pure vegetarian, so all of it is.
Nothing runs to a timetable and nothing is priced on this site. Say what you would like when you enquire, or once you are here, and it is sourced for you. The kitchen on your floor will keep it and warm it; it will not cook it.
Gatherings
Occasionally, the house holds more than guests
Sometimes the house is used for something other than a stay — a yoga morning, a music or art session, a workshop, a family occasion. The terrace is where it happens, and it takes about fifty people seated at tables, or a hundred standing. These are never listed and never bookable: they happen because somebody wrote and asked, and the fit was right for both sides.
Gatherings happen here occasionally, and only by arrangement.
If you have something in mind, say so in your enquiry and describe it. Parties are the one thing the house does not do.
House values
How the house is lived in
Written down so nobody has to guess, and so the people who would enjoy staying here can recognise themselves in it.
- No smoking
- Anywhere inside the house.
- No parties
- Small gatherings can be arranged in advance. Parties cannot, and this is not negotiable.
- Children are welcome
- Children under 10 stay free when accompanied by a parent. Tell us how many are coming so we can suggest the right floor.
- The house is pure vegetarian
- No meat, fish or eggs, in the kitchens or anywhere else in the house. The food arranged for guests is vegetarian too.
- Pets are not accommodated
- We love animals too, but to protect the comfort of the home and all our guests, pets are not accommodated.
More house values
- Keep the noise down
- Other people are living here at the same time, on other floors. Ordinary conversation is fine; carrying voices at midnight are not.
- Outside visitors need prior approval
- Ask before somebody who is not staying comes up. It is usually fine. It is never fine unannounced.
- No single-use plastics
- The house runs without them. Please help it keep doing that.
The house's character
- The kitchens are for keeping, not cooking
- Each floor has a microwave, a bar fridge, a kettle, cutlery and crockery. There is no stove and no chimney, so meals cannot be cooked here — food is sourced for you on request.
- Treat the house as made, not bought
- The tiles, the wood, the objects and the surfaces were made by people, mostly by hand. Live with them normally, but notice them.
- A slower way of staying
- This is a home on a residential street, not a base for a fast itinerary. Guests who enjoy it are the ones who slow down to meet it.
The practical details
- Floors 1, 2 and 3 are the guest floors. The fourth floor is private and is not accessible to guests.
- The terrace is open to everyone staying in the house.
- There is a lift, and there are stairs.
- Parking is available on the ground floor for small to medium vehicles, scooters and bikes.
Rooms are arranged by enquiry. There is no instant booking and no pricing on this site.
That is the house
If you have read this far, you probably already know whether it suits you. Write to us and tell us who is coming.