Luz House Renovation
Luz House restoration was done using ancient methods as far as was possible i.e lime mortar mix. Almost 95% of materials used was recycled. Luz House is still and always will be going through change and we don't want that change to be too drastic.
To begin with, the house was actually the barracks for the Portuguese and was 'renovated' in those days (1890) to accommodate the Buchi babu family i.e. halls were turned into rooms, tiled roofs into concrete and even the portico was an addition at that time. In fact, over time, there have been more changes that we aren't all that aware of today.
For instance, while restoring the yoga studio, we found a well (filled in), positioned right in front of one of the archways. Imagine our excitement of finding buried treasure! Well, it was just a well and nothing more, but that lead us to realise that what is currently considered inside the house was actually outside the house. Its possible the archways were all open and lead to the interior courtyard.
As interesting as the well find, was the portico, which was an addition in and around 1890's but was expanded to be larger, probably in the mid 1940's. We've found a plaque that refers to a sholah that dates back to 1780 and granite square cut stones all over with no clue as to what they were used for. You can see the stones currently laid out as a part of the driveway.
Luz House is a mystery, constantly turning up new discoveries for us to wonder at.
We hope that you take as much pleasure in enjoying the space as we did in restoring it.
Yours truly,
M.V. Abhimanyu Prakashrao
