Inside Akshay Oberoi’s bucolic Karjat home with an open courtyard and sleepy views

Everything had to be built from the ground up. They tapped award-winning interior designer and architect Nishita Kamdar to design their home. The brief was simple: make it rustic, intimate and warm. An open courtyard, carefully paved with flagstones and replete with shrubs and a frangipani tree, greets visitors. It leads to the house’s wooden door, salvaged from a 200-year-old bungalow in Jaipur and repurposed here. Its intricate relief work speaks of another time. "To me, it looks like something that belonged to an ancient civilisation once," says Oberoi.

Nayan Soni

In the living room, floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors are drawn back to bring in uninterrupted views of the surrounding verdure, anchored by a sentinel banyan tree that doubles as a swing for his son, Avyaan. The living room spills out onto an outdoor patio, perfect for birdwatching at dawn, and stargazing when a tired sun gives up its shift.

Inside, plush, ivory-toned sofas and lounge chairs tempt one for an impromptu sprawl, a much-needed afternoon nap or an evening soiree with friends. The walls are worth noting too: salmon-pink and rendered in breathable lime plaster, they carry soft, uneven textures. Initially, the homeowners were not fully convinced by the chosen palette or finish. But Kamdar, who drew on traditional wisdom, persisted.

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