Pedro Figueiredo de Albuquerque de Oliveira Novais. 

It’s the last day of my Goa trip, and I find myself sitting in front of the man with the fabled name. Pedro belongs to the nineteenth generation of a family that identifies itself as the custodian of the Figueiredo Mansion, a sight I have travelled 550 km (Mumbai to Goa) to see for myself. For a fleeting second, I put myself in Pedro’s shoes, wondering how it must feel to carry a four-century-old legacy on one’s shoulders.

I must admit, my perception of the Figueiredo House wasn’t formed only during the time I spent within its palatial innards, but rather, through the course of my bus journey from Panjim (central Goa) to Loutolim (South Goa), where the house lives. Let’s blame my non-Konkani accent for everyone’s confusion about which place I wanted a ticket to, until I finally gave up explaining Loutolim and told the conductor I needed to reach Figueiredo House. 

His exasperation turned to delight: “Why didn’t you say that first?” Turns out, Figueiredo House is something of a celebrity in Goa. And I was on my way to fangirl. 

When I finally stood at its gates, I waited for a second before entering. It just felt right; here I was standing on the threshold of a conversation centuries in the making. And, until you’re able to do the same, I hope my tale does justice to the majesty of the mansion. 

Ensconced amid the quiet lanes of Loutolim, Figueiredo House dominates the Goa skyline, dwarfing everything in its wake. 

Does Pedro ever feel like the king of the world, being born into a home that seemed like it was constructed by the gods for the gods?  

“I never thought of it this way,” he reasons. “For me, it was always my vacation home in Goa.” Born in Portugal, Pedro was just a baby on his first trip to the home. For him, it was synonymous with family, he says, adding, “It looked very different back then. The museum is a new addition, an experience that my mother and I curated to give the family artefacts a space.” 

Returning to a forgotten home

All of Pedro’s knowledge about the home draws from the stories that his maternal grandmother, Maria de Lourdes, would regale him with. He remembers her and his grandaunt Georgina as being the family matriarchs, who’d spent so much time in the home that their tales always brought a well-groomed gaze to the place’s history. 

Now, for the last decade, Pedro has been attempting to study the........

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