This villa on Tamil Nadu’s Sayalkudi Beach is an ode to coastlines familiar and faraway

Less ‘brief’, more biryani, and equal parts beach and beer. That's what Nithin Lakshamanan recalls of that first meeting. It was with close friend and interior designer Sonal Chordia of Hohm Design Studio and it was to discuss the design of his and his wife Sindhuja's new beach villa at Sayalkudi Beach, less than two hours drive from Madurai. The home had been conceptualised and executed by architect Dinesh Kumar S. of Senscape Architects, and the meeting with Chordia was a fitting prelude to the beachside vibes they hoped to routinely revel in. That one biryani-, beach- and beer-fuelled discussion soon turned into many more.

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Beachside Bolthole

For the couple (he is a property developer, she is a homemaker), who otherwise lives in the Nilgiri town of Kotagiri, the idea of a beach house wasn't always so. "We'd initially imagined it as a party pad," jokes Lakshmanan. But Chordia had other ideas—and she was convinced that the pristine coastline, virgin waters, and unending horizon were too beautiful not to frame. "There was just blue and white, and nothing else, all around," she recalls. And so, to summon the seafront indoors, she conjured up various vantage points, while imagining the interior as an idyll for entertaining.

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Tropical Flavours

In keeping with the coastal setting, Chordia conceived a design language informed by tropical minimalism. Moroccan-inspired cement tiles were chosen for some floors, whereas others were left a shade of olive. The walls were coated in pristine white, while bed backs were highlighted in exposed brick. In the bathrooms, wash basins sourced from Bali were backdropped by lime plaster to offset the Spanish-print tile counters. The designer chose natural wood furniture, while rattan weaving and louvred shutters were added to cabinets in an effort to let them breathe. "Being a beachfront home, we were conscious of discolouration. We chose elements in either wood or stone, minimising the use of metal," she explains.

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Local Yet Global

There's something about the home that recalls beachfronts familiar and faraway. "It's probably the furniture," says Chordia. "Most pieces are artisanal designs from Bali and Thailand." Mind you, there are as many local influences as there are foreign ones. Like the breeze that wafts in unannounced, through the slit windows in the living room. Or the custom crockery cabinet in the dining room, propped against a cement-finish wall. Likewise, the bespoke four-poster beds in the bedrooms whisper of languid lie-ins, with merely the sun and the sea air for company. Partially open wash basin spaces ripple into the bedrooms, holding a mirror to the undulating waves.

Today, the beach villa is nothing like Lakshmanan and Sindhuja had imagined. “It’s far better,” says Sindhuja. What has remained steadfast are those accompaniments during their stays: biryani, beach and beer. Really, what’s more to want?