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Journalism of Courage
There’s something endlessly fascinating about royalty. Maybe it’s the tradition, the mystery, or just the sheer elegance that feels worlds away from our everyday lives. So when a royal couple decides to make their home in Boston—a city known more for its Ivy League roots than its regal ones—of course, you want to take a peek inside.
Padmaja Kumari Parmar, a princess from the House of Mewar, which is one of the world’s oldest dynasties, and her husband, Dr Kush Singh Parmar, whose grandmother was a princess of Jaisalmer and who himself grew up in Mexico, brought centuries of heritage with them. Their children speak both Mewari and Spanish fluently, and their home needed to echo all these beautiful, lived-in stories.
They called upon Massachusetts-based designer Vani Sayeed to reimagine their 100-year-old Georgian-style home. The brief was clear—“The couple wanted to honour their ancestral heritage,” Vani told Architectural Digest.
To bring that cultural fusion to life, Vani looked to a special Pichwai painting already hanging in the living room—a piece filled with rich tones, cow motifs, and the image of Shrinathji. It didn’t just ground the room; it guided the entire journey of the home’s design. “Padmaja and Kush preferred rich tones and gold metallics throughout the space, so we fashioned a narrative that is just as decadent in style,” she explains. The painting even inspired a trip to Udaipur and helped Vani find parallels between Indian and Mexican aesthetics. “This painting guided a trip to Udaipur. It also helped me draw a vibrant parallel between Indian and Mexican cultures that are inherently complex and flamboyant.”
The dining area showcases handcrafted Talavera pottery from Mexico, a nod to Kush’s roots, while the living space tells its story through furniture and fabric. “The Canasta Game chairs by Kravet Furniture upholstered in Cowtan and Tout depict a fable of a princess playing in an arbour, which reminded Vani of Padmaja and her daughters.” It all comes together with thoughtful layering—a rug designed by Vani herself, a dreamy chandelier, and bold hot-pink chairs that bring both Indian and Mexican vibrancy into focus.
In the dining room, Kush’s creative direction pushed the design into bolder territory. He asked for a gold ceiling, which now gleams against moody blue-green walls and a deep maroon wallpaper speckled with elephants. His artistic instinct paid off. “He requested the ceiling to echo royalty in gold,” Vani recalls. She carried that richness into the primary bedroom too, with emerald-green velvet and a rani-pink lounge setup that manages to be both luxe and cosy. And the kids? They get a playful orange wonderland with fabrics straight from French design house Manuel Canovas.
For Padmaja and Kush, the home reflects who they are and where they come from. For Vani, it was a lesson in emotion-led design. “I want to design comfortable spaces for people. It has to be inviting, easy, and natural. Good design is invisible. One should feel it when they walk into a room,” she says.
