Talabgaon Castle, built in the Rajput Architectural Style, has been a living Garh occupied by the family for nearly 200 years who wanted to share the experience of a bygone era with the visiting guests of Talabgaon. ‘Atithi Devo Bhavah’ (Guest is God) is a Rajput and a Hindu tradition that they strive to uphold. We felt that heritage conservation doesn't only mean freezing a building in time or creating a museum. Instead, it seeks to maintain and increase the value of buildings by keeping their original built form and architectural elements with adaptive reuse favouring their restoration. And when restoration of a building is a challenge - recreating scale, period and character comes into play. The ruins were conserved/ restored using traditional materials as well as modern technologies and materials where necessary. The efforts were made to carry out construction with the help of local craftsmen which alone lead to total revival of vernacular architecture. Restoration, in this case should keep money within the community, by requiring fewer materials from outside and more labour-intensive work by local artisans thereby spreading prosperity within the locals. Since the work was also undertaken to bring out a sense of pride amongst the people of Talabgaon and value their own heritage as well as their own capabilities, the process of conservation/ restoration / construction adopted was very different from the conventional contractual relationships. The existing walls were studied for load bearing properties. The ones that were in a dilapidated state and could be demolished were marked so that spaces could be made larger to accommodate suites along with attached toilets. The courtyards were designed to become interactive and open to air common spaces. Intriguing spaces were being created wherein rooms were being approached through a sudden chandani or a verandah. Certain openings and niches were used to create openings and doorways. Restoration and rebuilding, however major, was essential to reclaim the glory of the palace. The courtyards were designed with fountains and water bodies with the sound of water falling in some areas. The external pathways were made of hand cut cobbled stone. External facades had stone carving work. Kanguras and jaalis were reproduced or repaired. Broken arches, columns, jharokhas and even domes were replicated to match the originals of which some evidence remained. All exposed terraces and roofs were treated with waterproofing with methi, gur and rope fibre, along with lime surkhi which ensures adequate waterproofing. The mission was to prevent deterioration, preserve the existing state, consolidate the actual fabric, restore, reproduce the missing details, rehabilitate, reconstruct and add facilities. The intention was to recreate architectural features in terms of geometry, form, scale, colours and materials. The 24 rooms with intricately carved wooden furniture, each with a theme and several well placed jharokas. No room looked like the other as each one had been carved out of different spaces. The modern traditions were given, so the old touch merges the new. Innovative Construction Technology: The Kanguras (crenellations) were repaired using lime mortar and small pieces of bricks, maintaining the form by cutting a wooden template from the intact existing Kanguras. The construction of the various elements was entirely done in stone, this included fluted columns, low parapets, chajjas, curvaceous brackets, bungree (foliated arches), jalis (screens), bollards. Chatris symbolizing honour and pride of the historic era were constructed to create a skyline with their dome shaped profile and were made of ferrocement to keep the load on the existing structures minimal. These were supported on stone fluted columns. Jharokas were projected from existing blank facades to create standing balconies with expanse garden views. These were made as overhanging stone projections with overhead stone chajjas and stone brackets to support them.