The late Eric Prabhakar's art deco home, now tastefully converted into a saree (below left) and jewellery (below right) store.

If you delight in the preservation of a heritage building, chances are you will be doubly thrilled when an old building is put to new use. Take the case of this 49-year-old two-storied bungalow in Nungambakkam that now houses Rasvihar, a jewellery shop, and Sarangi, the Kanjeevaram saree store. This is such a perfect setting for the traditional merchandise: you have to wonder why no one thought of this concept before. The aesthetic interiors and the lush greenery outside exude tranquillity. Shopping here promises to be a very different experience from shopping at the established, and eternally crowded, showrooms in T'Nagar and Mylapore.

The renovation was the brainchild of S. Ahalya, creative director of the business venture. While the art-deco style house, built in 1963 in 6.5 grounds, matched the entrepreneur's needs, certain design challenges had to be squared away first. That was freelance designer Elemma Kuruvilla's job. The house had six doors leading outdoors – most had to be done away with for security considerations. The verandahs and balconies were enclosed for the same reason; the portico is the highlight. Extensive rewiring made the installation of security cameras and motion sensors possible. The designer sourced furniture and lights from the same period as the house construction and kept the mosaic flooring. With other such thoughtful touches, the transformation of the building into 6500 square feet of retail space was complete.

Originally, this was the residence of India's first Rhodes scholar, Eric Prabhakar, who lived here with his family till 2007. He had represented India in the 100m in the London Olympics of 1948. Then, this Economics graduate from Madras Christian College – where he was captain of the hockey team – proceeded to the U.K. to do his Master's degree at Oxford Universtiy. In 1949, he received the 'blue' from the captain of his track team, Roger Bannister, who went on to create sporting history with his sub-4-minute mile. Prabhakar later worked for UNESCO and came back Madras upon retirement. He passed away in September 2011 in Bangalore to where he had moved a few years earlier to be closer to his children.

If the HCC had been serious about its mandate, it would have gone about its work differently. It had the option to base its functioning on the Delhi Urban Arts Commission which fulfilled its role as a responsible protector of heritage values while the Metro progressed in that city. In Chennai, on the other hand, the HCC has opted to be a kind of sanctioning authority for demolition of heritage buildings and has toed the line of the CMDA and Metrorail. After two years of functioning, it has not been able to inspect all the buildings under its jurisdiction and has not even begun the process of notification of the list of heritage buildings.

The bungalow on 17a Sterling Avenue was home to a distinguished scholar-athlete, 'Oxford's Madrasi on Bannister's Team'. Like me, if you believe that long-time inhabitants of a place leave their imprint within, then a non-architectural detail like this is significant. In this particular case, it somehow makes the effort behind the renovation seem even more worthwhile.

Rasvihar store

Sarangi store