Modern meets Hindu design principles
Meredith and Atish Gandhi’s kitchen was designed with function in mind, drawers outfitted to hold cooking utensils upright or store dishes and a layout that makes meal preparation and cleanup easy.
But perhaps the most unusual thing about their kitchen is what’s not above it: bathrooms.
Atish Gandhi has navigated life as a first-generation American well, straddling his parents’ South Asian culture and perspective and his more modern independent life here. But he likely had no idea how much it would affect the home he’d choose to live in as an adult.
When he and Meredith married two-and-a-half years ago, they’d already been looking for a home for quite a while. They loved Craftsmanstyle homes and had their hearts set on a place in the Heights.
As they clicked through listings online and ventured in and out of open houses, they stumbled onto something completely different: a modern home.
They fell in love with the clean and simple style and were impressed with the studioMET architects who designed a Sunset Heights home.
“It was, ‘This house is cool, this house is cool,’ then, ‘Whoa, I’ve never seen anything quite like this,’ ” Atish
said. “The house had a calming, Zen-like feel to it.”
That spec home was a patio home, and the Gandhis wanted one that would accommodate the family they hope to have.
So they hired studioMET and found a lot in Spring Branch East, and when they sat down with architect Shawn Gottschalk to start the process, it was clear this would not be an ordinary home-design project for the firm.
Atish’s mother, Manisha Gandhi, who follows the Hindu architectural principles of vastu shastra, insisted that her son and daughter-in-law’s home conform as much as possible.
Most of vastu shastra’s ideas date to ancient times, when managing harsh sunlight and locating a water well were practicalities, but they also are interpreted to bring happiness, wealth and prosperity to the family living within.
It’s not uncommon among South Asians living in America. Many grew up understanding them as a way of life and often also scheduled important decisions for the most auspicious days on the Hindu lunar calendar.
Moving into a home, buying a car or opening the doors of a new business all must wait for the right astrological day, Atish said.
The Gandhis brought their list of issues — which included that bathrooms cannot be placed above a kitchen or cooking area — and Gottschalk got busy addressing the form and function of the couple’s 3,160-square-foot home as it fit into the handful of restrictions he’d been given.
“It’s an interesting concept,” said Atish, 32, who is vice president of operations at his family’s hotel chain, Details Hotel Group. “There are a lot of challenges and great things about being the first generation in a new country. You grow up just as any other American kid would, but your parents still have those cultural things from where they grew up. As I have gotten older, I have learned to appreciate them more.”
He acknowledged that vastu shastra can get fairly detailed, and there were a few things in their home that didn’t fit into the final plan. Not only is placement within the home important, but the direction is, too: East and north are of great importance for prosperity and good health.
The first hurdle was finding a north-facing lot. The downside, it had a tree in the front yard. Their compromise: Set back the second story of the home to accommodate the tree and trim it back to accommodate Manisha.
“The tree was a challenge. My mom didn’t like that, but I’m not chopping down a 100-year-old tree,” Atish said.
At the front of their home is a big bold door and a two-story entry, representing prosperity. But a staircase there didn’t bode well because it represents money running out of the house.
Still, the beautiful wood and steel staircase travels to the second floor behind tall windows that wrap around the northeast corner of the home.
The downstairs has concrete floors and modern, white oak cabinets in the kitchen. Fire and water don’t mix, so in the kitchen, the range and the sink couldn’t be across from each other.
Light streams in through clerestory windows above the cabinets and through huge panels of glass at the back of the home that bring in the feeling of the outdoors.
Their backyard has a pool and covered patio with an outdoor kitchen. Come football season, that’s where Atish and Meredith hang out with friends.
Contemporary furnishings designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Ligne Roset — dark-blue Ploum sofa, a pair of chartreuse Facett chairs and their Clouds fabric art on the wall — fill the open living room.
Upstairs, loft space serves as a family room, where Atish and Meredith, who’s 28 and a speech therapist, go to relax.
There are two guest rooms upstairs — and a downstairs office can easily serve as a third — and the master suite got some extra thought.
They used the Havenly app for help with interior design and are waiting for some new furniture — a chair, nightstands and lamps — to arrive.
The couple opted for a smaller bedroom in favor of a larger bathroom and closet.
“Some people have this massive bedroom and end up with a small closet and bathroom,” Atish said. “The closet is so important; Meredith and I never have to fight over space. We have space in the bathroom to get ready. What do you do in the bedroom? You sleep. We don’t even have a TV in the bedroom.”
Vastu shastra can get highly detailed, but Gottschalk said hitting the big-picture stuff wasn’t that hard.
“Some of those things made designing the house simpler by dictating what went where,” he said. “There were some challenging things we tried to do, and some of the decisions we made gave us a better product.”
Ultimately, Manisha and her husband, Yogesh Gandhi, were both happy with the way their son and daughter-in-law’s home turned out.
And now, their son says, they want Gottschalk and studioMET to design a home for them, too.