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Heritage Stewardship Readiness for Chettinad Palatial Houses: A Resident-Centered Conceptual Framework Informed by A Large- Scale Survey

Balakrishnan C, Biju Kunnumpurath, Ajith Paul, Anitha Suseelan

Abstract

Chettinad palatial houses in Tamil Nadu represent a distinctive built heritage in which architectural form, climate-responsive construction, and community memory operate as a living system. This paper develops a resident‐centred conceptual contribution: Heritage Stewardship Readiness to explain when and how house owners and inheritors may be prepared to sustain heritage houses through everyday maintenance, selective upgrading, community action, and ethically governed digital documentation. The framework is informed by secondary analysis of a structured questionnaire survey administered across the Chettinad region. Descriptive results show that respondents largely value traditional architectural features and report meaningful everyday benefits (including ventilation, thermal comfort, and well‐being), while simultaneously describing cost, ownership fragmentation, and scarcity of skilled labour as major barriers to maintenance. Chi‐square tests indicate statistically significant associations between house-built period and renovation recency, between eco‐material use in original construction and eco‐material use in renovation, and between renovation impact level and perceptions of modernization. Building on these patterns, HSR is presented as a four‐dimension readiness model (Material‐Technical Capacity, Socio‐Cultural Attachment, Governance‐Economic Enablers, and Digital Trust‐and‐Utility) with practical indicators and an intervention pathway. The paper offers policy‐ and practice‐relevant guidance for designing support packages.

Keywords

Chettinad; palatial houses; living heritage; sustainability; resident perceptions;

References

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