In Nashik’s Grape County, Shrutika Raut Design Studio crafts VANA…a homestead, a 1,500 sq ft retreat where concrete, timber, and ochre walls fold quietly into the valley’s contours.
Curated by: Rupali Sebastian
Photographs: Hemant Patil
The project
Perched within the serene topography of Grape County in Nashik, VANA…a homestead is a 1,500 sq ft second home designed to be folded into the land rather than built upon it. Conceived for the family that stewards the eco-retreat itself, the bungalow emerges gently, like a thought forming in silence, rooted in the valley as part of its rhythm.
The site
The home lies in a gentle valley cradled by low slopes and countryside. The long plot is soft in contour, allowing the land to guide the architecture. Approached by a narrow road, the house remains concealed until one draws near, shielded by the natural fall of the terrain and scattered tree cover.
The brief
The clients sought a home deeply connected to its landscape, functional in planning yet calm and understated in presence. The idea was to create a place that would embrace openness and rhythm, but without show or interruption to the land.
The design intent
Led by principal architect Shrutika Raut, with architecture by Shoeb Shaikh, the design philosophy was about quiet companionship with nature. Concrete, timber, and ochre walls define the structure with restraint, while clerestory skylights and long façades dissolve boundaries between built form and landscape. “We wanted the house to feel inevitable, like it belongs to the valley rather than sits upon it,” says Raut.
The spatial flow
Organised along a linear rectangular footprint, the home comprises two juxtaposed volumes marked by ochre walls. Living areas extend toward the porch and open to the view, while bedrooms and quieter corners are tucked away with ease. The planning remains calm and legible, with rooms flowing naturally along a central axis and transitions kept unembellished, reinforcing rhythm and function.
The material palette
Concrete forms the bones of the house—warm, exposed, and textured. Timber-lined ceilings stretch continuously overhead, intersected by ochre lime walls that soften the rawness. A clerestory skylight introduces daylight into the heart of the home, animating surfaces in shifting rhythms. The black basalt flooring, inlaid with brass, becomes a monolithic canvas grounding the architecture.
The façade rests within the slope, timber-lined and horizontal, mirroring the contours of the land without dominating the view. Interiors carry a mid-century modern spirit: woven cane chairs, teak wood furniture, striped upholstery, and linen curtains. The palette is tactile but restrained, where proportion and material carry weight rather than ornament.
The challenges
Designing a house that felt part of its site rather than perched above it required restraint in scale and detailing. Integrating openness while ensuring intimacy, and balancing raw concrete with warmth, were carefully resolved through proportion and materiality.
The highlights
The long, low façade lined in timber, the ochre lime walls intersecting concrete, and the clerestory skylight together define the home’s quiet identity. Inside, the basalt floor with brass inlays, the mid-century furniture, and the natural rhythm of openings reinforce its ethos: a home that rests, not asserts.
The takeaway
VANA affirms the value of designing with deference. By folding into the land rather than rising over it, the house demonstrates that architecture can be less about spectacle and more about setting—a backdrop where life and landscape flow as one.
Fact file
Project: VANA…a homestead
Location: Grape County, Nashik
Area: 1,500 sq ft
Design firm: Shrutika Raut Design Studio
Principal architect: Ar. Shrutika Raut
Interior and façade design: Shrutika Raut Design Studio
Architecture: Shoeb Shaikh (@shoebrshaikh)
Design team: Laxmi Gandhi
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