Adman Sam Balsara’s home is a testimony to an ideal marriage between old and new elements.
Many are familiar with Sam Balsara’s Madison World, but few are privy to his innermost chamber called home. The adman along with his wife Homai and two grown up daughters Tanya and Lara reside in a six-bedroom, 85-year-old house that is surrounded by a large garden in an equally verdant neighbourhood in Jogeshwari.
The home marries old-world charm with a contemporary ethos. “It’s got a happy mix of antiques along with all the modern trappings necessary to make life comfortable for us,” explains Sam. The house was built by his maternal grandfather amidst a jungle and today where the garage stands was once a horse-carriage shed!
Muranos, Lladros and just about any eye-pleasing glassware finds a niche in the couple’s home. “The passion for collecting glassware seems to be a very Parsi trait,” says Homai, laughing. A graceful blue and white Murano ballerina statue, a decanter with six Murano glass goblets and a modern Lladro statue of a pretty lady form a part of their prized collection.
The moment you step into the house you are greeted with an informal living room which is warm and welcoming, but can belie what lies beyond. The next room is the formal drawing-cum-dining room, minimally done up. High ceiling, columned sleeper wood panels, mosaic tiles, louvered windows (in some areas), antique cupboards, a teak wood staircase banister, among others come together to form a vintage cohesive whole. “I have only changed the living room windows to bring the outdoors indoor,” says Sam about leaving the original structure as is. There’s even an outhouse that one has probably only read about in an old Mills and Boon novel.
Meanwhile, a pair of onyx lions bought at a Mumbai exhibition from a Pakistani craftsman are heavyweights, literally, and stand majestically in their garden. Sam counts a translucent lamp made from camel skin (a gift from his banker friend) as one of his most cherished gifts along with a over 150-years-old mechanical winding clock “that is older than the house”.
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