My ancestral home
@allknowing (137552)
India
February 18, 2021 10:09pm CST
Earlier my parents were living in a joint family. My father built this house in the property that belonged to my mother.
My father designed it and in those days it was considered to be one of the best designs. The window that you see on the left is the room we girls studied. The right window is of the room where my father had his office.
Much water has flowed since then and today one of my nieces lives there with her family. Just as well as the elders have left the world including her own father.
Hopefully this house will stay forever.
Do you have your ancestral home?
12 people like this
13 responses
@allknowing (137552)
• India
19 Feb 21
I grew up there and I have lovely memories of that house. Those days the toilet was outside and we had three and I used to brag about it while at school saying we have three (lol)
2 people like this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
19 Feb 21
@rakski It was just bragging done by kids
1 person likes this
@rakski (125761)
• Philippines
19 Feb 21
@allknowing oh yes, during those times, you are rich if you have many rooms and toilets
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (107859)
• Marion, Ohio
19 Feb 21
The house my parents built is right next door to where I live now
2 people like this
@wolfgirl569 (107859)
• Marion, Ohio
19 Feb 21
@allknowing Yes, it sold a couple of years ago per their will. He is a nice guy
2 people like this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
19 Feb 21
@wolfgirl569 As long as the house is not demolished you can still look at it and remember old times.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
19 Feb 21
That looks a lovely and well-built house. In England, we'd call it a bungalow (a word we borrowed from your language which just means 'the style of house typical of Bangladesh'). because it is only a single storey. I'm not sure what I'd call the covered open space, obviously used for eating, which is so appropriate for your climate. I might call it a loggia (which comes from the Italian) or I might call it a verandah (which is from the Hindi 'varanda' via Portuguese).
Certainly, it looks a very comfortable home and I can see that you have many happy memories of it.
My childhood home is still standing. It was quite a large house with five bedrooms and it had a huge garden and outhouses which were once used, we were told, as a cottage for a chauffeur/gardener. Our family, however, didn't own a car and certainly couldn't afford to retain servants! I also have many happy memories of that house but I am not very keen to see it now because the outhouses, where we played a lot on rainy days, have been pulled down and the garden I knew as a child now has three houses built on it.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
19 Feb 21
@allknowing Our toilets were inside (one upstairs next to the bathroon and one downstairs next to a utility room, where boots and wet weather clothes and cleaning materials and so on were kept. There was also one outside as part of the outhouse buildings, so we also had three toilets, though I don't remember ever boasting about it!
There were many games we played (too many to list here). Some were made up on the spot, of course, and others were traditional. Your game sounds a little like one we called 'Pig in the Middle' where the 'pig' had to catch one of the other players as they moved from one base to another.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
19 Feb 21
@owlwings I too could list many games such as L O N D O N - know the game? - hide and seek, seven tiles and so on. The boasting of the number of toilets is just a tip of the ice berg. We even boasted to each other about the number of idlis we ate and so on (lol) Kids after all.
Europe was far advanced and so I am not surprised about the toilets you had. 
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
19 Feb 21
That open area that you see we called it portico, where we relaxed and casual visitors were entertained there.
We too had an outhouse where my fathers workers stayed who also helped around doing chores for us during their spare time. Our toilets were outside the house and in those days there were no flushes and so you know how the cleaning was done. That system is now banned and that house now has toilets that are attached to the house.with a septic tank
Yes. I have wonderful memories of my childhood spent there Ours was an open house and kids around got together at our place during holidays. The blue pillar that you see there are four there and we played a game using those 4 pillars. One would stand in the middle and four standing one each near the pillar trying to exchange places and in that activity the one standing in the middle would try to occupy one pillar. Great memories Owlwings
I can understand any change around would put anyone off as in your case.
My niece has maintained that place with a nice garden and has planted more trees.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
19 Feb 21
@sol_cee It used to be but nowadays there are terrace houses where concrete is used. My own house has a roof where I have marble chips. Just my original idea
1 person likes this
@sol_cee (38219)
• Philippines
19 Feb 21
@allknowing are tiles the common roofing material used there?
1 person likes this
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
20 Feb 21
@allknowing We used to drive by and it made me so sad. Now, the entire property has be demolished and condos have been built. I can't bear to look at it anymore.
1 person likes this
@Overflowing (3709)
•
19 Feb 21
Yes we do have,but it's 5hrs drive away..its older than my grand parents house
2 people like this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
19 Feb 21
Even my ancestral home is quite away from where we live but it is well maintained.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
19 Feb 21
That is sad as I do see neglected properties around here too.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
19 Feb 21
You seem to be there where you were born.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
19 Feb 21
@jstory07 Apparently there is no one at your birth place
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (139782)
• Roseburg, Oregon
19 Feb 21
@allknowing No I live in Oregon and was born in the state of Washington. I lived there one month and than we moved to Japan for five years.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
19 Feb 21
When I say ancestral it needs to have atleast a couple of generations Like my mother's property was owned by her parents and then my father built a house in there and now my niece lives there.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (341742)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Feb 21
@allknowing Fair enough. The farm then is ancestral but not the house.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (103967)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
19 Feb 21
I had an ancestral home that belonged to my late parents in the Cocle province in Panama before it was sold to another family a few years ago.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
19 Feb 21
As long as it remains within the family I do not think it will be demolished You can always visit that place and revive your memories.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (103967)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
19 Feb 21
@allknowing My cousins will take care of the home of my late grandmother and my late aunts.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
20 Feb 21
That happens to many Indian homes as children leave the shores seeking greener pastures. What plans do you have for the house?
1 person likes this
@Shiva49 (26762)
• Singapore
20 Feb 21
@allknowing We are three brothers and our children unlikely to live here.
So the only way out is to sell it before our time is over.
