That white farmhouses in India are stunning is undeniable, but do you know that their trademark color once served a practical purpose? The first time you head down the road and see a white farmhouse, you’re going to wonder why it’s colored this way!
Even as barns are known for being red, farmhouses still tend to be painted white — but how and why have these homes been the typical hue? We can tell you that the practice was famous well before Joanna Gaines and her lovely farmhouse was country buildings! It all started with whitewash, also known as lime polish, which, according to the Daily Press, was used during the colonial era to prevent mildew from growing both within and outside homes.
The first thing to remember is that farmhouses initially weren’t painted white — they were whitewashed. Whitewash is a solvent formed on lime and is less lasting than paint, made accessible by Tom Sawyer’s tale of whitewashing a fence.
Green farmhouses were a feature of America’s lush and serene landscape for decades. Will we ever get sick of shiplap floors and doors, or a sleek white exterior?
But have you ever noticed why those quaint homes appear only to be painted white? There are a few valid reasons, aside from aesthetics, why homeowners miss the paint and stick with tradition, except for the new farmhouses.
What may shock you is that the “white coat” in several farmhouses in India is simply not painted at all! There is realistic logic for that, after all, they’re colored this way. They are, in the context of practical reasoning, whitewashed with a lime-based mixture.
When it turns out, the farmhouse is whitewashed with lots of advantages. Whitewash is more c, comfortable to begin with than picking a color shade of white paint. Since it’s only made of lime, soil, and salt, it can also be handcrafted at home.
SO, WHY DID THE WHITEWASHING FARMHOUSES CUSTOM BECOME COMMON?
Painting farmhouses in white is cheap
Saving money was just as necessary hundreds of years ago as it was today, and using whitewash instead of costly paints was one way for a country family to keep more coins in their wallet. Whitewash is made of lime, salt as well as water. Further, it is easier to make at home.
It is safe to paint farmhouses white
Today lead-based paints are illegal, but back in the old days, dangerous chemicals were far more prevalent in colors. All types of small animals also lived in farmhouses in India. Even, you can imagine how tough it would get to prevent a curious pig or goat from getting sick while building a whole house. Whitewash painting a farmhouse was a great way to keep the animals clean.
Help keep the wood healthy
One of the strongest properties of whitewashes is its inherent capacity to disinfect wood. It is useful to protect animals from getting sick. However, it also has another purpose that is to avoid the rotting of the forest. The lime, as well as salt in the whitewash, prevents the wood-eating fungi from growing. Many old farmhouse owners used to keep the forest clean around their farmhouse.
The main ingredient of the solution, lime, functioned as a disinfectant, odor disguiser, and insect repellent, and was used for various purposes in farms. It came especially useful to prevent mildew from developing in households in hot and moist areas. The moderate antibacterial properties of the liquid were also making it a common alternative for dairy farms.
Whitewash was inexpensive, dried quickly, and required virtually no skills to add. It was easy to handle and could make a farmhouse look tidy and bright quickly. Remember when Mark Twain was required to whitewash the fence of his family’s title character Tom Sawyer? The scene is not unrealistic, while it is fictional. The content has become so easy to deal with that even a juvenile can be trusted.
A whitewash not only filters out spores and bacteria but also allows sunlight to flow in at the same time. It ensures that, instead of being stuck under the protective surface, moisture will leave the wood (or brick) beneath, allowing for less decay in the long term.
Whitewash has implications right over the farm as well. Because of the light’s reflection, the roofs of buildings built with a whitewash can get up to 10 degrees more relaxed as compared to the dark roofs. Whitewash was also used for avoiding iron as well as metal corrosion. It was also used for protecting the tree trunks from rodents as well as exposure to snow. The soil around the house is known to be sweeter as well as perfect for growing any vegetables as well as ornamental plants.
Many of us dream of having farmhouses in India where they can not only pursue their farming passion but use it as a weekend getaway as well. Before purchasing property, however, one should show great patience, as the process includes many challenges.
Owning farmhouses in India has benefits, one of which is that profits gained from and dividends from selling the land are tax-exempt. But the agrarian land laws vary from state to state. In states like Telangana, irrespective of whether or not they are farmers, anyone can purchase agricultural land, but in states like Karnataka, only licensed farmers or those from farming families can purchase such land.
And if you invest in the farm, you’ll get more value from the goods, as time goes on, the farm’s price will rise, and in both cases, the asset is just property. Everything you do or spend in land-building does not improve valuation. And you can buy more land with the same money, as you are saving the house’s building costs. When time goes on, farm value will increase due to the lack of land and population development. If you’re committed to any enterprises on the farm so you can build a farmhouse and you can be a group plot because the profit from that is even higher than the house so you can save rent by buying a house
“Farmhouses symbolize convenience and are not a common choice of land. Since the city has inadequate space for large homes, farmhouses are preferred to areas outside the center.
If you want to make income, you should have some agricultural features in your field. Chikoos, coconuts and mango trees are grown in the orchards and fetch excellent money in the peak season as the production is high,
Not all of it! Shakeel Shaikh, an owner of one such farmhouse, says, “Many farms are being built and, apart from normal plants, commercially valuable items such as teak-wood trees are also being cultivated.”
There are two types of farmhouses available in and around Mumbai – one where the developer develops and directly sells the new villas and resorts, and another where one has to abandon a particular portion of the land for farming and greenery, and a house is being built in another section. In places where a specific part is expected to be left for greenery and agriculture when buying a farmhouse, the buyer is expected to be a farmer or to belong to a family of farmers, “says Ayush Kalia, Colliers International-Mumbai.” There are many other cities in India, including Mumbai, where people register land in the name of a real farmer or go in to convert.
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