A hillside plot behaves differently from a city one, and the things that matter most are rarely the ones on the brochure.

Orientation is first. Which way the house faces decides how much light it gets through the shorter winter days and how exposed it is to driving monsoon rain. Levels matter too — how the home steps with the slope affects drainage, privacy and the views from every room.

Then there is the build itself. In a climate this wet, the quality of waterproofing, materials and finishes is not a detail; it is what determines how the home ages over decades rather than seasons.

These are the questions we work through before a single wall is drawn. A home in the hills should get better with time, not merely survive it.