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Ideas for Home

House with Two Courtyards / Studio Mahajani + Mahajani / India

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Modern residential house with a tropical garden and rich greenery under a clear blue sky, demonstrating contemporary architecture and landscape design

Enclosed in an agricultural setting Falton, Maharashtra, the House with Two Courtyards is a weekend house that connects traditions and modern design. Studio Mahajani + Mahajani view the house as an architectural dialogue between folk textiles and contemporary spatial flow. The two main courtyards serve as organizing elements, softening the boundaries between interior and exterior, public and private. The constructed building rests on the ground yet expressively—stone, brick, gabled roofs and framed voids combine to create a sturdy house rooted in place and memory.

Stone and brick house with gabled roofs opening into a welcoming front courtyard in Falton.Photo © Hemant Patil

Spatial Organization and Courtyard Logic

The architectural narrative is centered around two courtyards, coordinating movement, microclimate and daily life.

  • Front Courtyard: A porous threshold that lets wind through and offers a layered transition from farm paths and fields to domestic life.
  • Rear Courtyard: A more private center connecting living zones, bedrooms and terraces, uniting family activity around sky and shade.

Rooms surround these courtyards, so each space receives light, ventilation and an open sky. The plan reads as a gently radial: movement curves through the house, revealing moments of solitude, green bursts and framed panoramas. Gabled roofs reflect the rural horizon and regulate rain, sun and scale. Thick stone and brick walls hold volume while balcony overhangs and abundant projections adjust light and shadow.

Central courtyard with stone mosaic, shaded edges and opening into halls.Photo © Hemant Patil Passage with veranda, curving from front to rear courtyard and framing fields beyond.Photo © Hemant Patil

Materials and Architectural Expression

In accordance with context, the palette emphasizes local textures and building traditions:

  • Stone masonry and sun-brick for mass, thermal inertia and regional identity.
  • Exposed mortar and rough finishes, highlighting craftsmanship and wear.
  • Deep cutouts, regulating light, glare and privacy while framing views.
  • Wooden elements in ceilings, thresholds and roof for warmth and rhythm.

The result is a composition that appears weathered but strong, tangible yet precise—every surface speaks of craft, local labor and regional resonance.

Close-up of stone masonry, brick infill and wooden ceilings showing layered textures.Photo © Hemant Patil Modern residential house with a tropical garden and rich greenery under a clear blue sky, demonstrating contemporary architecture and landscape design.Photo © Hemant Patil

Light, Atmosphere and Sensory Journey

Movement through the house is a choreography of light and shadow. Courtyards act as light lungs, penetrating deep interiors with daylight while deflecting heat. Gabled ceilings, arched windows and abundant openings form rays of light that soften edges and animate surfaces. Spatial sequences unfold from open living to shaded verandas, and then to private sanctuaries. In twilight, the stone masonry softly glows— the house seems both stable and luminous.

Shaded veranda between courtyard and garden, with stone mosaic and wooden overhangs.Photo © Hemant Patil Interior view with arched light illuminating textured brick and plaster surfaces.Photo © Hemant Patil

Ecological Response and Efficiency

Beyond atmosphere, efficiency is built-in to the architecture:

  • Thermal buffering: Thick stone/brick walls and courtyard mass stabilize indoor temperature.
  • Sun control: Overhangs and gabled roofs shade openings and divert monsoon rain.
  • Ventilation: Cross breezes are organized through aligned openings between the two courtyards.
  • Material ecology: Local use reduces embodied energy and enhances robustness.

Comfort arises from form, orientation, and materials—technology through tradition.

Deep overhangs shade a glass opening with plantings in the courtyard, channeling air inside.Photo © Hemant Patil

Daily Life between Two Courtyards

Morning light filters through the front courtyard, as doors open onto fields; afternoon hours pass in the rear courtyard under long overhangs; evenings gather on verandas where the warmth of the day lingers. The plan supports quiet routines and generous hospitality with equal ease.

Living space opens onto a green courtyard with stone supports and wooden ceiling.Photo © Hemant Patil Terrace opening onto distant fields, framed by brick supports and a gabled roof overhang.Photo © Hemant Patil

Craftsmanship and Details

At the scale of hands, the project reveals its making: exposed mortar, clean wooden joints and sun-brick conveying how the house stands. Deep cutouts and stone supports record time—shadows lengthen, surfaces patina, and the building ages with dignity.

Detail of exposed joints and handcrafted brick textures reflecting angled light.Photo © Hemant Patil Wooden ceiling elements rhythmically extending over the shaded veranda.Photo © Hemant Patil

Evening Atmosphere and Context of Farmland

As dusk falls, the tone of stone masonry deepens and courtyards glow like lanterns. The house returns to the fields—solid and luminous, simultaneously reflecting rural rhythms of work, rest and gathering.

Courtyard illuminated at sunset with warm light embracing stone and brick.Photo © Hemant Patil Gabled roof against evening sky, framed by deep overhangs.Photo © Hemant Patil Wide view of house low on fields with two courtyards organizing the plan.Photo © Hemant Patil

Rustic House of Dignity and Continuity

House with Two Courtyards / Studio Mahajani + Mahajani / India is more than a retreat. It's architecture speaking of place, lineage and landscape. By combining folk sensibilities with spatial rigor and material presence, the house appears rooted and poetic. Here tradition is a living dictionary; modernity is an invitation. This is a house made from courtyard, earth and quiet light—eternal ground for gathering, rest and contemplation.