Kalaketty Estate Bungalow , Kanjirapally, Kerala

The beautiful two storied country house was built in 1930 on a property granted to Mr. K.V. Joseph by the Travancore Rajas on a title deed dated 1926 and handed down to his legacies and now painstakingly well kept by the present owner Mr. V.P. Kurian. The building is situated amidst a lush green 150 acre estate of mixed plantation of rubber, coffee, cocoa, tapioca, pepper, vanilla and paddy. The bungalow is built on a small plot riveted up with the western side overlooking the fields where paddy, banana, tapioca and seasonal vegetables are raised and harvested. The field is bordered by a stream further west. The rotating cultivation makes the field emerald green all the year around. The steeply pitched, tile roofed, double storied house has front balconies and tiny verandahs which runs the full front of the south east facing bungalow. The building is a typical blend of early Cyrian Christian home architecture with the traditional spacious Keralite style of numerous cross ventilated doors and windows which let in lots of air and sunlight.

The home is shaded with old and huge Mahagony, Mango, Mangostine, Nutmeg and clove trees. Fron the back windows, on the northwest side one can see long stretch of emerald paddy fields running upto the other end of the plain. On the first floor a small part of the hall is set as a library with fairly collection of books to read and relax. From the library one can step into the balcony offering a magnificent panoramic view of the cultivated fields below, swaying to the tunes of the mild breeze.

The bedrooms with heavily timbered doors and windows have red oxide polished floors and are spacious and richly furnished. The walls plastered with lime stone stucco added with egg white are neatly finished and kept impeccably white to this day without much losing the mirror like shine. The photographs which adorns the walls of the house clearly defines a rich lineage which run down to the three generations. A curious variety among the photographs is that of Mr. Watt an English man who represented rulers who handed over the title deed of the estate to the Pottamkulam family the present owners of the bungalow.