The building provides a sensuous experience of space, design, and scenery all allowing for living in open harmony with nature. It is not just the grace and beauty that this traditional home has in favor; it is eminently practical as well. This ancient architectural style paid special attention to the peculiar topography of the land with its hills, slopes and valleys. Elevation of the house keeps it well above flood waters and rain soaked ground, especially during the monsoon season. These massive structures cleverly deal with Kerala’s tropical climate, high humidity and the intensity of monsoon rains. The house faces the rising sun and there is free flow of sunlight and ventilation. The high pitched roof traps rising heat well above living areas and the wooden ceiling provides another layer of protection from the heat. Large roof overhangs diminish solar glare and form shady covers to verandas. They protect rooms from direct sunlight, keeping them cool even on the hottest day. These overhangs also drain rain water further away from the windows, allowing them to remain open even during heavy downpours. Carved open work forms ventilation grills on windows and gable ends. Its windows have shutters, not the decorative ones, but real wooden shutters that could close and lock from inside.

The style of architecture of this traditional Hindu joint family home was well-adapted to the way of life in the past when customs and rituals were part of life. It was also both functional and capable of accommodating large, extended families. The kitchen and the pantry are at an extension of the northern block. The middle rooms in the southern and eastern blocks are for family gatherings. The western block has a special prayer room, machu, where the sword of the family’s patron goddess is kept. The attached open portico in the front, purathalam, was where visitors were traditionally entertained. The entrance into the house is through the gatehouse called padippura, a simple structure with a door in the center surrounded by built in seats on both sides and a thatched roof above. It is constructed at some distance form the main house and in ancient times permission to build such a gate house was a rare privilege and had to be obtained from the rulers. In the center of the eastern yard there is a tulasithara, a small brick platform where a sacred basil plant is grown. In the backyard there are cowsheds where, in earlier times, milking cows were kept. It has a bathing pond and a serpent grove in the backyard where the trees, hedges and shrubs around the granite images of serpant deities are always left undisturbed.

Hope remains that these old-style houses will not become extinct as just as some of the traditions of the matrilineal society are continuing today. This style of architecture has today become a status symbol among the well to do in Kerala. Many efforts are made to ensure that the remaining historic homes are preserved. Several of them were converted to favorite tourist destinations where visitors enjoy the lifestyle of Kerala in ethnic surroundings. Understanding this heritage should provide modern architects with exceptionally rich possibilities for the developing of a contemporary indigenous aesthetic.