Verandah in the Forest

This pandemic has been the longest I’ve ever gone without travelling - and I needed the perfect place to break that dry spell. Barr House in Matheran more than lived up to the answer I was looking for. We drove down from Bombay and spent 3 days and approximately INR 50,000 between the 4 of us.

Built for Captain Barr, Dune Barr House is a 170-year-old British mansion sitting cosy in the lap of tall Jamun trees, and a stone’s throw away from Lake Charlotte. Popularly called ‘verandah in the forest’, this restored colonial building is a green haven armed with a library and reading room (Dubash Hall) with board games. The pincode for tranquility, really.

It’s about a 4.5 kms walk from the car park, but at the end of it, you have refreshing nimbu paani and a charming colonial world waiting for you. There is little or no network available. Instead, there’s plenty of respite from the constant onslaught of information and technology. It’s the kind of place you can finally schedule a meeting with the one person you’ve been keeping at arm’s length - yourself.

The rooms:

They have a total of 11 rooms across the mansion. We’d booked the Heritage Deluxe room (Kotwal) for INR 8,400 per night for 2 people, and the Heritage Superior room for INR 7,800 per night for 2 people. We stayed in Kotwal (located on the first floor) - a spacious room large enough for 3 people. As soon as you enter, there is a smaller room with a single bed and a sofa which leads to the master bedroom. The price difference between these rooms and the suite isn’t much, so if you can, book yourself the suite. The manager, Mr. Ratheesh was kind enough to offer us an upgrade, but we were far too comfortable (read lazy) to move downstairs.

However, since it is a colonial mansion, any small sound becomes amplified - which will take some getting used to. But the management made sure to keep the mansion as peaceful and quiet as possible. We didn’t have to worry about Covid-19 because there were no guests apart from us on Monday and Tuesday (hello, smart planning).

Things to eat:

Since the meals are prepared fresh, lunch and dinner orders are to be placed a couple of hours in advance. They are charged separately, and we ended up spending about INR 4000-5000 per meal. Simple home-cooked food is available in a wide range, including Parsi, European and Indian.

The breakfast (included in the booking) is usually eggs, upma/poha, etc. And no matter what/how much you order, save space for their delicious homemade ice-creams. Breakfast and lunch are served outside, but dinner is served in a communal dining hall just past Dubash Hall - on nothing less than an 18-seater oak table.

Things to see:

The plenty of sunset and echo points apart, you can see turquoise flowers, singing birds, and the occasional horse. Dune Barr House is closest to Lake Charlotte; however, Matheran is full of pathways and trails that lead to everywhere and nowhere in particular.

Barr House really is the perfect getaway, covid or not. No network coverage, no cars, no people, no concrete. The rules are all different. Welcome to the original social network - the jungle.