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Ruta and Neville lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 20 years, but always dreamed of moving back to Goa to be close to Neville's parents. What began as one wild hillside — landlocked and unusable — slowly became home.
Today the family splits their time between Wisconsin, where Ruta runs an Indian-inspired café (rutasmke.com), and Goa, where they continue to lovingly enhance the property.
From a wild, landlocked hillside to a cottage christened in 2025 — the story of the land unfolded slowly, one terrace at a time.
Ruta and Neville bought a wild piece of land on a hillside in a quintessential Goan village — landlocked, unusable, but blessed with breathtaking paddy and river views. Over the years they added more land to build an access road, and painstakingly rebuilt the old rice terraces, or "baandhs," that had crumbled over decades of neglect.
The family moved back to Goa, where Ruta opened several popular cafés and grew an organic garden on the estate to supply them.
Plans to relocate to the US Midwest were interrupted by the pandemic, trapping the family in Goa. With time on their hands, they finally built the small hillside cottage.
The cottage was christened and presented to the world — a hillside retreat shaped by two decades of quiet, patient work.
The family now splits their time between Wisconsin, where Ruta runs an Indian-inspired café (rutasmke.com), and Goa, where they continue to lovingly enhance the property.
The story of The Lookout is still being written — with new plans on the horizon to welcome even more guests into this quiet corner of Goa.
