When Old Meets New
Aa time when old homes are crumbling to make place for swanky new residences, the French Haveli stands as a perfect testimony to time and design. It’s a 150-old house refurbished and revamped—by an Indo-French collaboration—into a boutique hotel with the typical old city flavour alive. Every nook and corner has been utilised aesthetically. “Every haveli has its own character and we merely highlighted the original features with new use,” says Rajiv Patel, the owner. So, they have installed a retractable
awning over the central courtyard which allows breeze at night and shields the home from harsh sunshine and rain. A distinct feature is the tiny bedroom fashioned out of the former pigeon feeder, a characteristic typical of homes in the pol.
THE SPACE The haveli was restored by a team of French architects who had visited in the year 2000 as part of a project to revitalise the old city. It is now a beautiful mix of modernity and traditional living so there’s a central open-to-sky courtyard and a jhula, that’s characteristic of a Gujarati home.
AT 1824 Khijada Sheri, Opp Jain Derasar, Dhal Ni Pol