Make your dream house: Building a dream home on a Steep Slope of Manali
Make your dream house: How one family turned a near-unbuildable 32° hillside above the Beas valley into a warm, wind-tight, three-level mountain home — told the way it actually unfolded, from the first soil test to the first snowfall inside.
DESIGN NOTES (TSI ARCHITECTS & ENGINEERS)
TSI Architects & Engineers
7/22/20261 min read
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Steep 32-degree Manali plot required geotechnical survey before any design.
Kath-Kuni tradition inspired stone-and-timber banding for seismic resilience.
RCC pier foundations anchored the home into stable bedrock layers.
Dry-stone terracing stabilized slope while creating usable garden levels.
Zone V seismic rating demanded ductile detailing and shear walls.
Construction proceeded terrace by terrace across eighteen careful months.
Monsoon pause and minor slippage tested the project's resilience.
Local deodar timber and slate stone defined the material palette.
Wraparound deck frames sweeping views toward the Pir Panjal range.
Early planning and local expertise turned difficult terrain into home.