All for one, one for all
A joint family home that respects the individuality of each member with a well-planned floor structure
Off the busy Medchal highway is a small lane that leads to the calm and serene Dandumudi Enclave, which houses the family home of the founder of St Peter’s Colleges and Schools, Thumma Bala Reddy.
Named Trinity, the fourstoreyed building is home to 15 people — Thumma Bala Reddy and his wife Rojamma, elder son T.V. Reddy, his wife Saroja and sons, Anurag, Amal and Aakarsh and younger son T. Alphonse, his wife Aruna and their daughter Ashitha and son Ashish, and youngest son Jaipal, his wife Sridevi, daughter Ananya and son Anshul.
While the first floor is Thumma Bala and Jaipal’s space, the three floors above are equally divided between the two brothers. Alphonse and Aruna stay on the second floor, which also has a hall, kitchen space. Wooden steps take one to Ashitha and Ashish’s rooms, which occupy half of the third floor. Similarly, T.V. Reddy and his wife Saroja stay on the fourth floor, which again has a spacious hall, kitchen space and Aakarsh’s room. A flight of similar wooden steps take one down to Anurag’s room which occupies the other half of the third floor. Amal’s room is next to the terrace. While most houses have one, this mansion has a home theatre in each floor, which has its own theme and colour combination.
Explaining the structure, T.V. Reddy says, “We have tried to incorporate the feeling of living in a joint family yet not forgetting the individuality of each family.” The interior of the house has been done by the family itself. All floors have similar characteristics — huge wide halls and French windows to let in as much light as possible into the house. “If you go to the fourth floor and the windows are open, you almost feel as if your house is on a tree top,” says Alphonse.
Keeping in sync with the connectivity, every floor has an intercom that also has a video coverage of the main door and the key “button” to open it.