Spread across three bedrooms, a drawing room, a dining room, a kitchen and a room for domestic staff, the apartment is generous in its sprawl as well as a strong testament to the clean lines that define art deco—both in its layout as well as furniture. The original terrazzo flooring, from Bharat Floorings & Tiles, is a vibrant mix of mustard yellow, green, maroon, white, grey, red and black—much of it arranged in vertical lines that subtly indicate the directionality to the layout and the pathways to the different rooms. “I have only had it polished once, and I will never change them,” Bharucha says in emphasis. Wood has been used as a soft decorative material for minimal panelling in the living room. “The design sensibility was so acute back then that even the teakwood work and colour schemes inside the elevator of the building matched the ones in the lobby. That shows how detailed their interventions were,” says Kumar. “Even the hallmarks of affluence were denoted subtly in these structures. If the residents of a building were extremely wealthy, one would see Italian marble along the stairway. If they were decently well off, there would be teakwood banisters, some metal grill and teakwood panels along the staircase walls.”
Just like the delicate tapestries that Bharucha loves to meticulously embroider and give as gifts to her friends, her home is full of precious detail in its material and form. Quite simply, this is what makes her apartment a majestic chapter from one of Mumbai’s most beautiful architectural periods.
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