INSIDE CORMАС LYNCH'S COLAВА

AN IRISHMAN IN INDIA, THIS INTERIOR ARCHITECT HAS MADE HIS HOME IN A GRACEFUL APARTMENT WITH HIGH CEILINGS, TALL PANELLED DOORS, AND A SUNLIT LOGGIA, IN MUMBAI'S FAVOURITE HISTORIC DISTRICT

- COSMO BROCKWAY

To walk around the sea-salted arrondissement of Colaba in South Mumbai is to long for a glimpse behind the bougainvillea-covered gates and balconies. Lofty, high Gothic palazzi, divided into storied apartments and sporting quaint European names, turn even a stroll into a reverent pilgrimage. The patina and style found nestled in the boulevards and lanes, many of which were once canals flowing between the buildings, conjure a (wholly romanticized) vision of an occidental Venice.

Dublin-born interior architect, designer, and advisor Cormac Lynch has made his home here, imbuing his graceful apartment with a style that triumphantly mingles the two cultures he calls home. A stone's throw from the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the house was built at the height of Victorian Empire power-a tumult of arches, quatrefoils, and solid respectability, a long way from the swamps and dacoits of Colaba's past. "I have always been drawn to places of deep character," reflects Cormac as we stand in his startingly red dining room. "My working in India is, in fact, a harking back to family history as some of my relations had a tea company. I grew up with photographs of their bungalows and Bombay visits-so I do feel a connection living here." As architect to many well-known Indian and international clients, the genial Irishman has seen his fair share of striking interiors, so the drawing room of the second-floor walk-up intrigued him at first sight. "The space had magnificent proportions and historic details-high ceilings, ecclesiastical window frames, tall panelled doors, and a wonderful loggia, with vast windows on both sides. It reminded me instantly of Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin's Houses of Parliament in London in a way," he laughs, reminiscing about the coup de foudre of walking in for the first time.