Our Story

Forty acres, one family, three generations.

How a working tea plantation above Munnar became a small hill retreat — without ever stopping being a plantation.

1962 — Present

Planted by a railway engineer, kept by his grandchildren.

The estate was planted in 1962 by a retired railway engineer who bought thirty-eight acres of forest slope and cleared it, row by row, for tea. His son ran it through the difficult years of the 1980s, when tea prices collapsed and half the neighbouring estates were sold for eucalyptus.

In 1998, his granddaughter opened the bungalow's spare rooms to travellers passing through Munnar who wanted somewhere quieter than the town's hotels. What began as four rooms is now twenty-two, plus the original bungalow, without the estate ever stopping its tea production.

The original 1962 bungalow

The Land

Forty acres, three microclimates.

Tea, cardamom, and silver oak share the same slope, each occupying the elevation it prefers.

Upper Slopes — Tea

Twenty-six acres of Kannan Devan clonal tea, plucked on an eight-day cycle by a crew of fourteen.

Mid Slopes — Spice

Cardamom, pepper vines, and coffee grown under silver oak shade trees for the estate kitchen.

Valley — Forest

Six acres left uncleared since 1962, now the estate's watershed and a resident sambar deer herd.

The People

Most of the staff grew up on this hill.

Est. 1979

Thankachan, Factory Supervisor

Has plucked and processed this same tea since he was sixteen. Leads the 7am plantation walk most mornings.

Est. 2004

Radha, Head of Kitchen

Runs the kitchen garden and estate table, cooking whatever came off the terraces that week.

Est. 1998

The Founding Family

Three generations still living on the estate, overseeing both the tea business and the rooms.

"The tea doesn't pause for guests, and we've never wanted it to. You're staying inside a business that was here long before the rooms were."

— Third-generation owner

Getting Here

28km from Munnar town.

By Road28km / 55 min from Munnar town via the Pallivasal route; the last 3km is estate track, best in daylight.
Nearest RailAluva Railway Station, 118km — estate car transfer available on request.
Nearest AirCochin International Airport, 132km, roughly 3.5 hours by road.
Elevation5,200 ft above sea level; carry a light jacket even in April.

Estate location, Pallivasal Hills