- Travellers can book a stay at Casa Zen, the restored 150-year-old Portuguese villa in Goa.
- Family heirlooms, antique furniture and colourful interiors give the home a warm, personal feel.
- The heritage property combines old-world Portuguese charm with modern comforts and sustainability features.
A 150-year-old Portuguese villa, colourful interiors, a lush green mango tree and corners filled with family heirlooms, Arshad Warsi and Maria Goretti's Goa home has plenty of details that catch your attention. Called Casa Zen, the restored villa reflects the couple's effort to preserve its original character while making it comfortable for modern living. Instead of replacing its old-world charm, they chose to build around it, creating a home that feels warm, personal and rooted in Goa's architectural heritage. The best part is that if you are travelling to Goa and want to experience this beautiful property, you can easily do, as Casa Zen is available as a holiday rental.
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Casa Zen Has Its Original Style Intact
Photo: Instagram/@casazengoa
Located in Saligao, North Goa, Casa Zen is a restored Portuguese-style villa that has retained many of its original features. The couple worked on bringing the old home back to life rather than rebuilding it from scratch, allowing its history and architecture to remain at the centre of the space.
Traditional elements blend with carefully chosen furniture, colourful accents and vintage pieces collected over the years. The interiors were largely designed by Maria Goretti, who thoughtfully blended the villa's heritage character with meaningful family possessions and personal touches. Rather than filling the home with newly purchased decor, she incorporated cherished family heirlooms, giving the house a lived-in feel instead of making it look like a carefully styled showpiece.
Small Details At Casa Zen Tell A Bigger Story
One of the home's most striking features is a mango tree and the lush greenery that adds to the relaxed atmosphere that Goa is known for.
Inside, every room has its own personality. Bright colours, patterned tiles, antique cupboards, vintage crockery and artwork come together without taking away from the home's original charm. In one of the villa's blue rooms stands a wooden cupboard that once belonged to Maria Goretti's grandmother, while another cupboard elsewhere in the house came from her mother's collection. Vintage cups and saucers that have been in the family for years have also found a place in the decor, adding a sense of history and sentiment to the interiors.
These carefully preserved pieces do more than fill a room. They reflect a conscious effort to hold on to family memories while giving old objects a new life within the home. Combined with the villa's heritage architecture, they help create a space that feels both deeply personal and rooted in the past. Open spaces, verandahs and outdoor seating areas encourage slow mornings and long evenings, making the villa feel connected to its surroundings.
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Travellers Can Experience A Blend Of Heritage And Modern Comforts
Photo: Instagram/@casazengoa
While the villa celebrates its heritage, it also includes thoughtful upgrades for contemporary living. Solar panels have been installed as part of the property's sustainability efforts, showing that preserving an old home doesn't mean giving up on modern conveniences.
Today, Casa Zen also welcomes travellers looking to experience a restored Portuguese home in Goa for themselves. Managed by Wildflower Villas, the entire property is available for holiday rentals at Rs 75,000 per night (plus taxes), as per MoneyControl. From heirloom-filled interiors and colourful living spaces to its lush surroundings and heritage architecture, the villa offers guests a chance to stay in a home where history and modern comforts coexist.
More than its architecture or luxury appeal, what makes Casa Zen memorable is the care taken to preserve its original character while keeping it warm, lived-in and deeply connected to its history.