ASIA / PACIFIC
August 7, 2017
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 3
Aged Portuguese mansion a window into India colonial history
By Vineeta Deepak
The Associated Press
OUTOLIM, India — Age sits
lightly on the sprawling, four-
centuries-old Figueiredo Mansion.
The home is a lived-in repository of
memories tracing to the days when the
west-coast Indian state of Goa was a
Portuguese colony.
The Figueiredo family of Portuguese
diplomats, lawyers, and parliamentarians
began building the mansion in 1590 as
they made their home in quaint Loutolim,
surrounded by paddy fields and a few
neighbors. The family added a second
section with similar design to the home
200 years later.
Today, about an hour’s drive from Goa’s
airport, a rundown roadside sign reads
“Casa Museu V.J. De Figueiredo
Loutolim” to let visitors know they’ve
reached their destination.
Far from the party beaches and liquor
shacks for which Goa is now known, the
mansion operates as a homestay and a
museum, filled with antique furniture and
artifacts from the 17th century. The musty
smell of aged wood fills arcaded corridors,
with rooms to both sides.
“It’s really like Portugal in India,” said
Portuguese student Pureza Lino, 19.
“Sometimes I look at the walls and I see
something that reminds me of my mum. Or
the smell, only the smell reminds me of my
grandmother.”
Three generations of the Figueiredo
family live in the house, a personal, living
link to history.
At 87, Maria de Lourdes Figueiredo de
Albuquerque is frail and speaks slowly,
admitting her memory is fading. But her
eyes light up as she recalls the “many,
many parties” hosted in the grand ball-
room, with its wall-length mirrors, teak
wood floors, and Belgian crystal chande-
liers.
Now the owner of the mansion, Maria de
Lourdes grew up in the mansion along
with her sister when the family was based
L
in the west Indian state. She moved to
Portugal as a young woman, where she
witnessed the political turmoil that led to
the end of the European country’s 451-year
colonial rule in Goa in 1961.
A few years later, she became the first
female member of Portugal’s parliament,
from 1965 to 1969. Then, two decades ago,
she returned to Goa to help her sister take
care of the home.
“We have to watch these things with
some respect,” she said, her watchful eyes
taking stock of the paintings and
embroideries adorning the walls. “Because
these things are not made every few years.
It’s once made for ages.”
When her sister died with no children,
Maria de Lourdes inherited the mansion.
She rules out ever selling the property,
saying her daughter and grandson would
succeed her.
Maria de Fatima Figueiredo de Albu-
querque, now in her 50s, was born in the
house before the end of colonial rule but
grew up in Portugal. Two years ago, she
left her job as an executive with an
international cosmetics company and
returned to Goa to help her mother take
care of the house.
“I knew I would come back to my roots
someday,” she said, while giving visitors a
celebrating
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tour of the museum.
Every artifact in the mansion has its
own story, and Fatima’s narrative helps in
bringing some of that composite culture
alive for the guests. “This is the ballroom
and all the furniture is made in Goa by
Goans, and by Hindus, Muslims, and
Catholics,” Fatima said, pointing to a
wooden chair with the figures of three
Hindu gods carved into the back.
Nearby, an antique chest of drawers
made of ivory, metal, rosewood, and teak
with images of lions carved into the base is
similar to a piece in the Victoria & Albert
Museum in London.
But that is “smaller than this one,”
Fatima said. “This is the only one that
exists with four lions and also in this size.”
Moving next through the dining room,
Fatima points to another family treasure
— a 60-piece crockery set made for the
family by the East India Company some
200 years ago. Guests also delight in
seeing the family’s 350-year old cradle,
which Fatima herself was the last to use.
Her own children were born in Portugal.
Other treasures included an 18th-cen-
tury German piano, porcelain vases from
China and Japan, mirrors and boxes with
intricate gold filigree work, and ceiling
murals depicting Portuguese explorer
PORTUGAL IN INDIA. The dining room of the
sprawling Figueiredo Mansion, a 427-year-old Portu-
guese heritage home, is seen in Goa, India. The home
is a much-loved and lived-in repository of memories
tracing to when what is now the west coast Indian
state of Goa was a Portuguese colony. Far from the
party beaches and liquor shacks Goa has become
known for, the mansion is now open as both a home-
stay and a museum, filled with antique furniture and
artifacts from the 17th century. (AP Photo/Manish
Mehta)
Vasco De Gama’s journey to India by sea.
Taking care of so many treasures was
daunting, Fatima said. “I hope that
nothing can be broken during my existence
in this house.”
Tourists said the walk through history
was fascinating. Many said the mansion
felt like a home, with its library stocked
with old books in English, French, and
Spanish.
“You don’t have this opportunity every
day,” said Liliana Sanchez, from Colom-
bia.
Pedro Figueiredo de Albuquerque de
Oliveira Novais, Fatima’s only son, is
already thinking about how to expand the
mansion’s homestay business. He said
taking over the family legacy would
eventually be his duty, but that the
property must sustain itself financially.
Born and raised in Lisbon, the 24-year-
old trained as an industrial designer and
has already begun overseeing renovations
to create more rooms. The homestay cur-
rently offers five rooms, each fitted with
air conditioners and modern bathrooms.
But maintaining the mansion to its
original standards has become difficult, he
said. Finding skilled and trustworthy
craftsmen to restore antiques and repair
the house is harder, with many of India’s
artisanal crafts dying out.
Still, he plans to retain the hospitality
and personal touch offered by his mother
and grandmother.
“I never knew a lot of the family,” he
said, but he wants to maintain the
traditions. “I want to keep the experience
of having dinner with guests.”
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Wondering what events are going on this week? Check out The Asian Reporter’s Community and A.C.E. calendar sections, on pages 10 and 12.