A long driveway meandering through seven acres of coconut groves, with the Arabian sea lapping on one side, makes for an exotic arrival at Kavita Singh’s elegant Alibag estate.
Tukaram is a man of few words and a stony gaze that you may find unsettling—until you figure out that he is more animated in the company of plants than people. The phlegmatic chief gardener is an old hand at designer Kavita Singh’s beachfront villa in Alibag. He wakes up at 5am every day to tend to the plants on the seven-acre property, and over the years, his skilled ministrations have yielded a veritable forest of greenness. On Singh’s property now, along with exquisitely manicured lawns, there is a highly Instagrammable lily pond, a dense huddle of frangipani, casuarinas, coconut palms and hibiscus, and hundreds of other flowering trees and shrubs. “He’s done a beautiful job, hasn’t he?” asks Singh as we sit to dine, al fresco, on her sea-facing lawn. The pride in her voice can be attributed to not just the aesthetics of her space, but also to the talent and loyalty of her staff. It is true that her house can easily nail every flattering superlative in the book, but Singh is rooted in the way she approaches most things, including design. “Wealth and fine taste are not enough to put a place like this together. Only if I treat my staff with respect will they be as attentive to the house in my absence as when I am here.”
LOCAL AREA NETWORK
This story is from the March - April 2019 edition of AD Architectural Digest India.
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This story is from the March - April 2019 edition of AD Architectural Digest India.
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