SPASM Architects designs a stunning weekend villa in Alibaug

Imagine you have an acre of land in the countryside. The obvious urge would be to use it to build a massive house with several rooms to compensate for the severe lack of space in the city. But is it possible to build a big house on this parcel of land and incorporate wide lawns at the front and back, and a pool big enough for lap swimming? This new property in Alibaug by developer Aditya Mangaldas and Mumbai-based architectural firm SPASM Design shows how it can be done, and with stunning results.

MATERIAL BEAUTY Shaped like the letter ‘C', this house is located at the foot of a hill, a prospect that caught the keen eye of Mangaldas. His experience building his own house in Alibaug gave him the confidence to venture into property developing. Mangaldas's most recent project is priced around the 11-crore mark and is one of eight homes he is developing in Alibaug.

“The house is designed to embrace the hill that's behind it,” says Sanjeev Panjabi, founding principal (along with Sangeeta Merchant) of SPASM. “The house is experiential in its design. You will find different textures and different treatments given to the materials. The palette is restricted but the experience is not,” he says. The flaming russet beauty of laterite is even incorporated inside in the form of tiny pebbles that line the paths.

All the care and effort that SPASM and Mangaldas have taken to build the house has paid off. “There are no blatant antics. Whatever has been done has been done in an appropriate, relevant and considered manner, which is how we like to work,” says Panjabi. As it stands today, this house, which is so close to Mumbai, feels extremely far from it. It offers the charm of country living, with all the benefits of high design.

The price of each property is different and depends upon its specifications, design and area. This house and the one right next to it are both designed by SPASM. It was the first time Mangaldas worked with the Mumbai firm. Their affinity for simple, box-shaped grid layouts matched his preference for clean modern lines.

The one-acre land on which this house sits is divided such that the house takes up approximately 40% of the area; 60% is the landscape, which includes a lemongrass garden at the entrance and wide lawns at the back.

The approximately 9,000-square-foot house includes a large living room, four bedrooms, a kitchen, staff quarters, a utility room, outdoor dining, and a verandah.

The materials used are local and minimal. Kota stone has been used for the flooring and chira stone or laterite, from Raigad, for the walls. In the backyard, two big walls of laterite protect the house from rain and wind without completely enclosing it.

里面,每个4间卧室和浴室公顷s an adjoining courtyard, which can be accessed by sliding open tall glass windows. A large portion of the master bathroom is, in fact, in the courtyard.

“Having courtyards is a passive technique to address the hot and humid climate of Alibaug,” says Panjabi. “In the bathrooms, the courtyards help to control the freshness of the toilet. They also make the home feel outdoorsy. We want people to feel the rain, the wind and smell of the earth”

The large, double-height living room is also flanked by a courtyard running the entire length of it. When the glass sliding doors of the living room and sliding windows covering the courtyard are opened, the cross ventilation produces abundant breeze. Most of the furniture seen inside the house is custom-made. SPASM designed a few pieces, while Mangaldas got the rest made or sourced from select stores. The beauty of the interior design is in its simplicity.

“These house is just 1.2 kilometres from the sea as the crow flies,” says Mangaldas. “Even in summer, because of the cross ventilation, you don't need air conditioning.”