Most "Goan" houses standing today were built between the 18th century and the early part of the 20th century. They display a mix of neo-Classic and neo-Gothic styles. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The neoclassical movement that produced Neoclassical architecture began in the mid-18th century, both as a reaction against the Rococo style of anti-tectonic naturalistic ornament, and an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque. ... Neo-gothic architecture is an American branch of the Gothic revival style that was imported from England in the 1830s. ...

Design influences

The following factors affected house design in Goa:

• Protecting oneself from the fierce monsoons was the basis of architectural form.
• The European lifestyle was encouraged in an attempt to separate newly converted Goan Christians from their cultural roots. They adopted a European outlook but did not cut themselves off from their Indian roots completely. The resulting cultural fusion affected house design.
• Portuguese rule allowed Goans to travel abroad; when they returned they brought with them ideas and influences from other countries. The Goan master builders executed these ideas using local building materials, making the Goan house a mixture and adaptation of design elements and influences from all over the world.
• The architectural style of Portuguese-built churches.

Monsoon in the Vindhya mountain range, central India A monsoon is a rainy season which lasts for several months and has lasting climatic effects. ... A European is primarily a person who was born into one of the countries within the continent of Europe. ... Goa (गोवा) is Indias smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest in terms of population after Sikkim, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. ...

Exteriors

The traditional pre-Portuguese homes were inward-looking with small windows; this reflected the secluded role of women. The houses opened into courtyards, and rarely opened onto streets. The Catholic houses built or refurbished between the middle of the 18th and the 20th centuries were more outward-looking and ornamental, with balcãos (covered porches) and verandas facing the street. The large balcãos had built-in seating, open to the street, where men and women could sit together and ‘see and be seen’, chat with their neighbours, or just enjoy the evening breeze. These balcãos are bordered by ornamental columns that sometimes continued along the steps and added to the stature of the house. This, together with the plinth, which usually indicated the status of the owners. The houses of rich landlords had high plinths with grand staircases leading to the front door or balcão. Plinth of the Sign of the Kiwi, Dyers Pass, Port Hills, Christchurch (NZ) c 1917 - Collection: Christchurch City Libraries Hoysala temple on plinth Look up Plinth in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Large ornamental windows with stucco mouldings open onto verandas. These may appear purely decorative, but have their origins in similar mouldings in the windows of Portuguese houses. There these elements of style were devices to help sailors identify their homes at a distance as they sailed in. The design is therefore an import but serves a similar purpose in Goa: to help construct the identity of the home. Windows gradually became more decorative, ornate, and expressive.

Front doors were flanked by columns or pilasters. In architecture, pilasters comprise slightly-projecting pseudo-columns built into or onto a wall, with capitals and bases. ...

Railings were the most intricate embellishment in a Goan house. Pillars, piers, and colours do not seem to be influenced by any style in particular; rather they conform to a rather mixed bag of architectural styles.

Cornices

Country tiles used as a corbel is a feature peculiar to Goa. The effect achieved is very aesthetic, giving the roof projection a solid moulded appearance. Elaborately decorated classical-style stone corbels support balconies on a building in Indianapolis. ...

Gateposts and Compound walls

Gateways consisted of elaborately carved compound walls on either side of the gate posts.

Use of colour

Dramatic and startling colour—initially achieved with vegetable and natural dyes—plays an important role in Goan architecture. Colour was decorative and used purely to create a sensation. With a colour wash, the house looked "dressed" and therefore displayed the economic well-being of the family that lived in it. Here art in architecture performed a social function. However, this was not completely a matter of individual choice, since during Portuguese rule the owner of the house could be fined if his house was not painted.

The walls were made of mud and then later of laterite stone; they were usually plastered then painted. Very few buildings are coloured exactly alike and solid colours are used for front facades, interiors are usually in paler colours/white highlighted by a solid color. Cutting of laterite brickstones, Angadipuram, India Laterite is a surface formation in tropical areas which is enriched in iron and aluminium and develops by intensive and long lasting weathering of the underlying parent rock. ...

This rendering or piping in white is the result of the unwritten rule during the Portuguese occupation of Goa that no private house or building could be painted in white. Only churches and chapels enjoyed this privilege. It is understandable that Goan Christians followed this rule, as white was associated with the Virgin Mary and therefore the virtues of purity and chastity (both desirable in Goa), but, surprisingly, Goan Hindus also respected this practice. As a result of this code, an interesting and aesthetically pleasing trend developed, as competition among neighbours gave impetus to variety. The term Virgin Mary has several different meanings: Mary, the mother of Jesus, the historical and multi-denominational concept of Mary Blessed Virgin Mary, the Roman Catholic theological and doctrinal concept of Mary Marian apparitions shrines to the Virgin Mary Virgin Mary in Islam, the Islamic theological and doctrinal concept...

Interiors

Most houses are symmetrical with the entrance door occupying the place of honour. Typically this front door leads to a foyer which then either leads to the sala (the main hall for entertaining a large number of guests) or the sala de visita (a smaller hall for entertaining a small number of guests) and in some cases the chapel in the house. From here one can also directly enter the rest of the house, which usually revolved around a courtyard. Typically the master bedroom opens into the sala or is close to it. The dining room is usually perpendicular to these rooms; the bedrooms flank the courtyard, and the kitchens and service areas are at the rear of the house. In the case of two-story houses, a staircase, either from the foyer or the dining room, leads to more bedrooms.

Consisting of humble burnt earth plastered over with cow dung and hay, or with elaborate patterns made with tiles imported from Europe, the floors in Goan houses have been both workplaces and statements.

Almost all Goan houses have a false ceiling of wood.

Buying a House

Goan traditional houses are beautiful and people crave to own one around a scenic location. There are lot of resources to search be it local newspaper or online real estate websites. Recently [Mapofi] has introduced property listings of some of the most traditional houses for sale in goa. The site uses a google map based interface to display properties, you can know the exact location view the villa s images describing its architecture and watch videos to have a good feel. Use local information option to know more about the area you are looking to buy a House. Image File history File links Example. ...

References

• Heta Pandit and Annabel Mascarenhas, Houses of Goa, Architecture Autonomous, Goa, 1999.
• The Goan House