Parishreya – My dream 2nd home

Like many, I had always dreamt of owning a holiday home at a hill station. This dream was fulfilled recently when we received the key to our villament at Parisheya in Malavali in a glittering ceremony. Right from the balcony of our villament, we can see Lohagad, a hill fort near Malavali.

Parishreya with Lohagad in the background on left

Lohagad, is a very special place for me. It is here, on a hike, 35 years ago, I fell in love with a girl who is now my life partner since last 33 years. So when Mukund told me about Parishreya, a complex of 2^nd homes in Malavali that he was planning to build, I was immediately interested in it.

I met Mukund Deshpande, director of New Front, in 1977 when both of us entered IIT Mumbai. We became great pals. Mukund’s father himself was a civil engineer and during the summer vacations, Mukund would visit his father’s sites for getting a practical view of what he was learning in IIT.

When we graduated, middle east countries, with its construction boom, was a very lucrative job market for civil engineers. So, after a very short stint of work in Mumbai, he left for a job in Bahrain. There, he was working for a company which was in construction contracting business. In the gulf countries, the contractor needs to provide a guarantee for 15 years for all the work. This not only includes the fixture, but also things like water-proofing, leakages etc. As a site in-charge, Mukund used to be responsible for not only providing the required quality, but also to make the site profitable and make money for the company. It is in this crucible that he perfected his craft to provide top quality construction at unbeatable price.

Construction boom in Baharain

After a successful stint of 12 years in Bahrain, he came back to India. He would visit Mumbai quite frequently while he was working on his first project in Pune. I would get an opportunity to meet with him in many of his visits. These meetings were very enriching for me. I was running my own software company at that time. I learnt a lot of very valuable lessons in project management from him. I also learnt a lot about how he managed his projects and construction site.

Till that point in time, I had never thought about buying a home in Pune. But listening to all the stories about how the project was coming up, I wanted to buy a home in his project. Unfortunately, with my fledgling company, I had no money. Mukund is nothing if not resourceful. How he helped me buy the home in that project is another story for another time. 🙂

Anjor, 2nd property I bought

The house proved to be a great investment. I sold it after a period of 4 years at a handsome appreciation and reinvested the money in another flat in another project of New Front, Mukund’s company. That too fetched me great returns when I sold it in another 4 years. So when Mukund told me about investing in Parishreya, I was very interested.

The site is about one kilometres from Malavali railway station and about 10 minutes’ drive from the old Mumbai Pune highway.

The site is very well planned. All the facilities in the complex are well laid out and easily accessible.

Majestic gate of Parishreya and Mizzle

As we enter the site through a majestic gate, we see a beautiful, very well maintained, large garden with a nice walkway and flowering plant on our left.

Landscaped garden in the property

On the right is the club-house with a large swimming pool and a small kiddy pool.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The club-house is a two-storied structure.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The lower floor has a restaurant. There is also a multi-purpose hall which can be used for small functions or corporate events.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The upper floor has an open terrace overlooking the pool. The hall and the terrace can make a great party place.

Club house terrece

The upper floor has some self-contained rooms with their own balconies. It also has a gymnasium, a reading room and an indoor games room.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As we go ahead, on the left is Mizzle, a project of big, independent villas by New Front, and on the right is a huge parking place. We parked our car and walked to the site office.

Ample parking

I had always wanted to own a second home at a hill station. However, most 2^nd home projects have independent bunglows with their own plot of land. This generally makes owning a home at such projects a very expensive proposition.

The plus point of Parishreya is the concept of a villament. A villament has the exact external look of a villa in Mizzle. But they are ground plus one structures with very similar façade, similar feel and similar finish. But internally, they are different apartments. The ground floor apartments have their own gardens, whereas for those of us who feel safer on an upper storey, an apartment on the upper floor makes perfect sense.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The villaments are either one BHK or two BHK, and we had a detailed look at both.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The space utilization in both types of villaments is optimum. There is absolutely no wastage. All the material used are of great quality and the overall workmanship is excellent.

The site layout also very beautiful. The villaments surround a children’s play area. Each villament either has a view of the play area or of the beautiful green surroundings.

Other problem that I have always had with the 2nd home concept is the upkeep of the property.  Buying the property is easy, but maintaining it is the difficult part. With both houses that I had bought in Pune, we spent more than half a day, just making the flat livable. Parishreya provides a maintenance deal with a very reasonable charge. That was a clincher for me.

The one BHK villament exactly fit my budget, and so I immediately booked  a villament on the upper floor, that directly overlooked Lohgad. This was a ready to move in property, so I got the possession as soon as I made complete payment.

Now I am a proud owner of a 2nd home at a hill station. One more item on the bucket list is ticked. 😀