Under the moonlit sky, the vintage dining hall reveals a blue table set for a Gujarati feast. Chairs, candles, and crockery are arranged perfectly for the Gujarati flavours to shine through.

Krutarthsinh M Jadeja’s 85-year-old mother greets guests with garlands, applies a teeka, and says, "God bless you."

In a desolate Kutchi village, a winding road leads to an arched iron gate, designed to protect against elephants and invaders. The manor, atop a mound, has sheltered six generations that have lived here for 118 years.

Krutarthsinh, the ever-smiling host, oversees the ancestral Darbargadh in Devpur, 30 km from Bhuj, now known as the Devpur Homestay.

The vintage Mardana and Zenana suites, once separate quarters for men and women, now host guests alongside rooms still occupied by the Jadeja family.

In 1905, Krutarthsinh’s great-great grandfather, Thakore Sahib Verisalji Bawasaheb of Roha built Darbargadh for his son, Kumar Shri KaranSinhiji.

Roha was Kutch’s largest principality, with 52 villages. "We were given seven villages, among which Devpur was the most important,” says Krutarthsinh.

Darbargadh, designed in the ornate Kutch-Roha style of Prag Mahal, was built over three years from local sandstone, limestone, lime mortar, and wood. The architecture includes porticos, courtyards, stucco pavilions, and pillared halls.

Following the 1956 Anjar earthquake, Captain Thakore Shri Ranjitsinhji of Devpur restored the site. The 2001 Bhuj earthquake, which affected over a million buildings, also damaged many historic Kutch sites.

Krutarthsinh says, “We were possibly one of the lone survivors of the earthquake back then.”

During Diwali 2007, Krutarthsinh and his wife, Nitu Bharti, dined with a French couple who later stayed with them in Kutch on the condition that they accept something in return.

Krutarthsinh was surprised to find Rs 12,000 left for their four-day stay, which inspired them to start Devpur Homestay.

At Devpur Homestay, eclectic architecture includes Swedish false pine ceilings and lavender pillars. Some of the chandeliers are from Belgium and some were made in the Ram Singh Malam style, who was a mid-18th-century craftsman commissioned to work in Kutch.

Raja Ravi Varma’s Chromolithographs and family paintings adorn the room, previously called Juna Mehdi and now Gulabi Mehdi for its pink colour. It’s one of the last Mehdis in Kutch, restored after the 2001 earthquake.

The property is also home to White Eagles School, the first-of-its-kind CBSE residential and  co-ed English medium school in Kutch, founded in 1994. It teaches up to class 10.

Krutarthsinh explains that his late father, Mahipatsinhji, chose to establish the school rather than enter the hospitality industry with Darbargadh. The school is located two furlongs from Darbargadh on a 12-acre organic orchard with nearly 1,000 Kesar mango trees.

Looking forward, Krutarthsinh opines that with the premium rates of hotels around Rann, Bhuj, Mandvi, and Dholavira, small, affordable homestays are the way to go.