In Mumbai, Creating Airy Charm

Fram Petit

The living room and dining area in Venna and Nari Dalamal's apartment on Marine Drive in Mumbai. Apartments along the drive command some of the city's highest prices.

MUMBAI â€" Even as Mumbai’s skyline rises, the Art Deco homes that dot stately Marine Drive continue to be among the city’s most prized residences.

Marine Drive, which overlooks the Arabian Sea, is a main artery connecting the southern tip to the rest of the island city. Developed by the British on reclaimed land along the bay, most of the buildings were constructed in the 1920s and 1930s and now are subdivided into apartments, a few offices and social or sports clubs. Officially, the road is called Netaji Subhash Chandra Marg, but the old colonial name has hung on.

The drive’s greatest attraction is its water views. “Aesthetically and view-wise, Marine Drive is the place to be,” said Himanshu Parekh, head of real estate at S. Harish & Co., a 35-year-old local real estate agency. “These flats have old-world charm, with good ceiling height, more usable space and interesting architectural details.”

However, he added: “Its disadvantage is lack of parking, that the buildings are in poor condition and they are now located far from newer business districts.” Some landlords have allowed properties to deteriorate, blaming a lack of maintenance on Mumbai’s rent control laws, which favor long-term tenants.

Still, apartments with sea views are selling at 60,000 rupees to 80,000 rupees, or $1,104 to $1,472, per square foot. Average apartments are 2,000 to 2,200 square feet, or 186 to 204 square meters, so the cost of a high-end apartment along the drive can run from 120 million to 176 million rupees.

Such prices, which have fluctuated little in recent years, have prompted some owners â€" like Veena and Nari Dalamal, Roohi and Chetan Jaikishan and Cecilia and Rohan Parikh â€" to invest in their homes. The Dalamals and the Jaikishans restored apartments in their family-owned buildings, while the Parikhs bought their home three years ago, shortly after they were married.

Four years ago, the Dalamals moved from London to Mumbai and decided to combine two fifth-floor apartments into a 9,000-square-foot residence in their family’s building, called Sunder Mahal. Mr. Dalamal runs a family-owned real estate business.

“I wanted it to be light and airy and bring out the view,” Mrs. Dalamal said. She chose Ashiesh Shah, now 33, as their architect. Later, he also worked on the Parikh residence.

Mr. Shah said the couple wanted the apartment to look as if it had been lived in for a long time, although the project, he added, “was a full gut job.” It took two years to complete. To give the view prominence, Mr. Shah dropped the windows in the main living area, which measures about 2,000 square feet. The study, in a recess behind the dining area, was created with sliding glass doors, setting off the space but not impeding the sea views.

The apartment now has four bedrooms, including a 1,200-square-foot master suite with a 200-square-foot walk-in closet, a bathroom with Lladro fixtures and mother-of-pearl sink inlays, and a small balcony. The three guest rooms, for the couple’s three adult daughters, measure 900 square feet each.

In addition to creating a kitchen, a 300-square-foot pantry, a family room, a staff room and a utility area, the architect enclosed in glass the central light shaft typical in Marine Drive buildings and filled it with plants to create a garden effect that also lets in more light. The original marble flooring was retained wherever possible, but wood flooring was installed in some areas.

The Dalamals would not disclose the renovations’ cost, but such work typically runs more than 5,500 rupees per square foot.

The 4,500-square-foot Jaikishan residence is on the first floor of a yellow-stone building called Noor Mansion, which dates to 1914 and is owned by the Begmohammeds, Mrs. Jaikishan’s mother’s family. It is considered one of the drive’s most attractive structures.

The Jaikishans, who run food-production businesses in Mumbai, hired Nozer Wadia, one of the city’s most celebrated architects, to modernize the apartment, a project that took two years.

At Mrs. Jaikishan’s request, Mr. Wadia retained original elements, including stained-glass windows, decorative ceiling moldings and Burma teak rafters, as well as the 13-foot ceilings and 12-foot doors. He also installed contemporary features like walk-in closets and glass sliding doors. Mrs. Jaikishan said she attempted to “preserve the essence and sanctity of the building by bringing the apartment back to its original form.”

The Parikhs sought to do much the same in their 2,400-square-foot apartment in the Zaver Mahel building. Mr. Parikh is in real estate, while Mrs. Parikh runs Le Mill, a concept store in Mumbai.

The couple worked with Mr. Shah to retain Art Deco touches like the bullseye-shaped ventilators in the exterior walls, circular bathroom windows and original glass, brass bolts and locks, while installing 21st-century features like air-conditioning and lighting features. Work began in 2010 and took about a year and a half to finish.

“Where else in the world do you do you have heritage buildings on the sea” Mrs. Parikh said. “The quality of life you have, given the view and the architectural details, make it appealing.”

A version of this article appeared in print on March 29, 2013, in The International Herald Tribune.