Heritage
Memories of another era
SUBHA J RAO
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Glyngarth Villa in Udhagamandalam resonates with old-world charm.
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Photo: K. Ananthan
Lovingly restored: The Glyngarth villa in Ooty.
GLYNGARTH VILLA, built by Sir Walter Mounde in 1850, transports you to another world, of ladies in satin gowns and gentlemen carrying on a discreet conversation by the fireplace. That the heritage house in Ooty retains all these qualities a century-a
nd-a-half, speaks a lot about its character.
The power of memory
That is what brought back Richard Cleghorn-Brown decades after he left it. A theatre person and businessman in Britain, Cleghorn-Brown, now 67, used to live in the house between the ages of two and five. He left India in one of the last wartime convoys from Bombay. His father, Lieutenant Colonel Jack Brown of the Durham Light Infantry, had official work in Wellington and so the family took a portion of Glyngarth on lease. What Richard remembers most about Glyngarth are its parties, the deep woods and the “Curry Puffs” served there.
Looking at the villa now, it is difficult to imagine it had suffered years of neglect. It used to be rented out to cinema companies and people had wrenched out the wooden shelves from the cupboards to keep themselves warm during the bitter winters. Antique teak cots, period furniture and chandeliers were relegated to the rubble yard, where they crumbled over the years. The walls had not seen a coat of paint in years and weeds had taken over the once-manicured garden. The spacious rooms were used to store manure.
That was when Shahid Sait saw it. Like most other kids raised in the Nilgiris, he grew up listening to tales of Glyngarth’s grandeur and how it played host to the rich and famous. So, when he first saw the cobweb-ridden edifice that it had turned into, he could mentally wipe off the grime and see its magnificence. He decided to take it on lease and run a heritage home there. It took workers more than a year to scrub the black floor; they discovered it was vintage Burma teak. The fireplaces were working, but were now home to pigeon nests. The turrets needed to be done up too.
Life, Raj-size
Shahid drew up a shopping list for antiques and placed them unobtrusively. The few original pieces were polished. When Shahid threw open the villa six years ago, after refurbishing five suites with modern plumbing, the guests loved it and people lined up to experience life Raj size.
Everything is subtle and child-friendly. Three of the suites have attached kids’ rooms done up in bright colours. In the living space, hurricane lamps have been strung up for effect and old advertisements of Thomas Cook hang on the wall. A couple of hammocks sway in the woods, spread over four acres and heavily wooded with 350 trees, including an oak tree that is more than a 100 years old.
Shahid is keen on introducing city slickers to a languorous lifestyle, long forgotten. Where a tea service is still in order and a glorious log fire the only way to keep out the cold. And, he is particular about not sprucing up the villa so much that it starts resembling a hotel.
Quickfacts
Glyngarth is 91 km from Coimbatore and 130 km from Mysore. The nearest airport is Coimbatore. The villa is on the road leading to the Golf Club. For details, call 0423-2445754 or 98430-70095. E-mail: glyngarth@sify.com or visit:
www.glyngarthvilla.com
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