Home > Dream Homes > Gorgeous Villa in the Palms designed and built by Abraham John Architects wraps gently around towering 80-year-old coconut trees

Gorgeous Villa in the Palms designed and built by Abraham John Architects wraps gently around towering 80-year-old coconut trees

By Courtney Constable

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In the heart of Bombay, India, the recently finished Villain The Palms has been expertly crafted by Abraham John Architects to sit carefully around a spray of 19 tall and impressive coconut trees that have been rooted on that plot of land for the last 80 years.

This sprawling private residence is nothing short of expansive, covering approximately 6,500 square feet between all of its volumes. Because the house is broken up into several different smaller buildings, however, it takes on the feeling of a small village. Designers and architects chose this unique layout at the very conception of the project in order to ensure the safety and preservation of every single tree on the plot.

In fact, they did such a good job of this that not a single tree was felled during the building process. Particular care was taken around the original 19 coconut trees that had called the land there home for so many years. In order to complement and display the trees, designers chose to model the home after a traditional Goan village.

In order to keep things really on track with that style choice, builders made sure to use historically accurate Goan built techniques and materials. The exterior walls, for example, are clad in laterite stone, which is extremely durable and also gives the home an earthy quality that helps it blend into its natural surroundings. The stone also creates a sort of thermal envelope throughout the buildings that regulates temperature in colder months.

The roofs and the angle at which they sit are also functional as well as decorative when it comes to climate! These roof surfaces are pitched at varying sloped angles so that rainwater runs down to be harvested for reuse. These angles also help the roof of each building withstand the strong winds that blow through the area during monsoon season a little better.

Between the different small buildings of the home runs a series of outdoor decks, passageways, and bridges. These paths wind through the trees, which have wonderfully reflective pools and gardens winding between their trunks. From the primary living are, located in the largest building, these pools, trees, and paths provide a gorgeous view through large windows that flood the rooms with natural light with the help of a beautiful skylight.

Beneath that skylight, an absolutely lovely interior garden blooms in the sunlight it provides. This garden serves to blend inner and outer spaces throughout the whole area of the house. To further that sense of natural settings, designers also used 100 year old reclaimed teak wood to build the outer frame area that features large screens.

Within the rest of the main module, the living room, kitchen, and dining room look out over the pools that wrap around the trees. The pool that provides this lovely view is actually made up of three distinct bodies of water that run between, around, and into each other. These pools are covered with teakwood bridges that lead back and forth between the surrounding land and little islands that were built amidst the pools to protect the ancient trees at their bases.

Photographs by Alan Abraham

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About Courtney Constable

Courtney has over five years experience as a writer, editor and consultant who specializes in architecture and home interiors. She has contributed content to HomeDSGN since 2018 and her work has also appeared on MyDomaine, Archilovers and Apartment Therapy. Learn more about HomeDSGN's Editorial Process.

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