This Beautiful 120-Year-Old Villa In Pondicherry Is A Home Away From Home

Upon entering Pondicherry, one is greeted by signs bearing the local tourism board’s famous slogan –  “give time a break”. One can only assume that the minds behind Maison 26, a heritage villa in the heart of the French quarter, have taken this credo to heart. Time quite literally dissolves into abstraction as one enters the jungle-lush courtyard of this 120-year-old property, which then gives way to a grand and stately salon featuring a treasure trove of antique curios, furniture pieces and a wall-to-ceiling gilt mirror. 

This is not your regular B&B– it is a home, and as a result, a museum of stories and a time machine. The architecture is clean and simple, the pillars and ceilings are sky-high, and every design decision seems calibrated to imbue a guest with a calming and clarifying sensation. Just be, the walls seem to whisper. 

The villa, tucked away on a tree-lined lane, is under the ownership, or more aptly, stewardship of curator and polymath Kiran Rao, who bought it from the descendants of the original owner – a Franco-Tamilian merchant named Xavier Condappa – without any deliberation whatsoever. “You come to a place because of its quirks,” Ms Rao explains, “and this house had quirks aplenty.”

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Ms Rao had always wanted to restore and preserve a colonial-era mansion, and Maison 26 became her canvas, a perfect outlet for her varied design influences. After collaborating with a host of architects, along with conservation and restoration experts to get the house up and running while maintaining its “distressed” look, she eventually joined forces with Ashish and Rucha Gupta, the founders of Luxunlock Private Villas, to open the property to guests. Luxunlock has quite a track record in the space, partnering with homeowners across South India to curate cosy and intimate experiences for the kind of traveller that wishes to immerse themselves in the minutiae of domestic life while on holiday.

Royal Maximalism with an Aesthete’s Touch: 

The property currently has four suites, with an additional two on the way, along with a swimming pool. First of these is the Indo-Chine Suite, a gorgeous dark-red room adjoining the salon that evokes the grandiosity of an imperial Chinese parlour. It features a host of objects and artworks that reference life in the French colonies of Southeast Asia in the 19th century, most notably Saigon. 

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Also on the ground floor is the Bengal Suite – an indigo-blue room that is a homage to the art and design practices of East India, as indicated by the Kalighat paintings. There is also a maximalist tapestry above the four-poster bed, featuring the “Tree of Life” – a motif that connects every single room. 

From there, a metal spiral staircase, a Pondicherry trademark, takes one to the top floor, where there is the Art Deco-inflected Bombay Suite – populated by colonial-era furniture sourced from its namesake, photographs of Parsi couples and pastel green wallpaper meant to evoke the iconic Dhanraj Mahal building in Colaba.

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The largest and arguably, grandest of these four rooms is the Madras Suite. Paintings by local artists deck the foyer, hand-drawn works by Harry Hancock, known for his maps of Madras, and a Rekha Rodwittya original hang in the sitting room-cum-lounge. The many ornate and antique pieces of furniture lend a nostalgic fragrance to the air. Not only does the resident of this suite have a spacious veranda outside the entrance to the room, from which to view the dense greenery of the courtyard, but there is also a private balcony – perfect for reading or a nightcap. For those who wish to do their cooking, the suite also boasts a fully-stocked kitchen.

Half a Day’s Worth of Travel, but Worth It: 

While Pondicherry does have a small airport that receives connecting flights via Bangalore and Hyderabad, the beaten path involves a flight to Chennai. This is followed by a three-hour drive from the airport (142 km) along the East Coast Road, State Highway 49, which is pristine and smooth enough to rival California’s Pacific Coastal Highway. Sip a filter coffee, and gaze out at the views of the sea and backwaters of Tamil Nadu, as you make way down to Pondicherry. The journey may be longer than your average day trip, but the arrival is timed perfectly with a warm evening welcome at the villa. A welcome that feels like a return.

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So Much To Do, And Enough Time to Do it in Because Everything is So Close:

One only needs to put one foot outside Maison 26 to find one’s self in the French Quarter, with its mustard-yellow buildings combining the best of French and Indian architectural traditions, cobblestone lanes, churches, cafes, shops and spotless, pedestrian-only beachfront promenade and of course, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. While guests can opt for a tour guide, those with a taste for adventure can explore the grid-like maze on their own, getting lost in the lanes and chancing upon a stunning heritage building or a park where they least expect it. 

Elsewhere, Auroville, the utopian community founded in 1968, is only a half hour’s drive (14 km) away. One can stroll through the sumptuous gardens of Matrimandir, the iconic golden dome temple, or drive an electric cycle through the semi-forested township, stopping along the way to see the Solar Kitchen, the Quiet Healing Centre and the many different eateries and libraries. 

For the water babies, there are several beaches in close proximity (between 10 to 30 minutes away) one can drive out to – Serenity Beach for the surfers, Paradise Beach for the nature lovers and Eden Beach for the loungers and swimmers.

As for food options, there’s always Coromandel Café. In a fortunate case of alignment, this restaurant (a pink building with a magnificent European-style porch that was once the residence of a French judge) is also owned by Ms Rao – and hence, guests at Maison 26 have unfettered access to the menu, which spans many cuisines from Coastal Indian to Continental to Mediterranean. While guests are given the option of eating elsewhere, this writer must confess that he had every single meal over my two-day trip from this restaurant. It’s just that good. One simply cannot go to Pondicherry without trying the Catch of The Day or the Prawn Curry from here.

Parting Thoughts:

Maison 26 is the quintessential example of what makes a town like Pondicherry feel so modern, yet antiquated. One of the many heritage buildings in the French Quarter that has been lovingly restored in the last decade, it offers guests a sanctuary, a home away from home, a world away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and a history lesson. It is often said that we go back in order to go forward, and after visiting this property, this writer emerged back into his life with a restored vitality, and a newfound appreciation for the work that goes into reviving a centuries-old property like this one.