QUIET GETAWAY

With exposed concrete finishes and tapered walls, this weekend home in New Delhi by Samir Wheaton gives its owners' art collection pride of place

- VAISHNAVI NAYEL TALAWADEKAR

As I make my way up the Bahls' garden path, past the lake, lush greens and a trail of tiny ducks, a previously unseen tower slides into view, complete with a 200-year-old front door engraved with falcons that seem poised to spring to life. "It channels a brick kiln. It's a little hat-tip to the once-upon-a-time pottery site that existed here," says Samiir Wheaton, Founder of Jaipur-based Wheaton Design, referencing the newly built tower, which evidently acts as the home's axis. We're seated at the bar counter, seven feet below ground level, where floor-to-ceiling glass windows frame the glistening garden beyond. And yet my attention is drawn inwards, to the massive volume infront of me.

When Samiir took up the project, the terrain that spans across three acres was sloped, yet he was committed to accommodating the architecture without flattening the land. For him and the team's other half, architect Monish Pandey, the landmine-like landscape provided an opportunity for discovery. And so, with nature as their point of departure, the two were motivated to go against the grain. Where some people start by trimming down the foliage, they started by building around it. Many would immediately level the ground. They sought to preserve the natural slopes, even highlight them.