A newcomer picking his way through the evening bazaar could easily miss Jose Inacio Loyola, whose bust is part of the business premises of an itinerant vendor. Or even the palatial house from where he kicked off one of the earliest political parties, Partido Indiano, to fight for self-rule in l864. Its publication, A India Portuguesa, one of the oldest newspapers in the state, continued to be published from here till the l980s.

Like his elite compatriots in British India, who founded the IndianNational Congress 20 years after him, Loyola belonged to a Westernised family. The sprawling villa he lived in would have done any Portuguese nobleman proud.Spacious rooms for every occasion: banquet halls, antechambers, lodgings for visitors who stayed overnight, the works. Long balcaos, balconies where the inhabitants of the house would step out and recline on muggy summer afternoons. Of course, the house, built in the l790s, would not be complete without a ballroom on whose stage one half-expects Julie Andrews and the Von Trapp brood to emerge and yodel `Cuckoo'.

Of course, the house has long since been divided among Jose Loyola's descendants and the spacious rooms have been turned into living quarters for four families. ``Some additions like toilets and kitchens were constructed by all of us,'' says Dr Max de Loyola-Furtado.

Architect Gerard D'Cunha, who conceptualised the famous Nrityagram of the late Protima Bedi, and who has researched the old houses of Goa, says that almost all the survivinghouses of importance in the state are home to several families the live independently. ``Alterations have had to be made to them, since they were originally supposed to function as a single unit,'' he observes.

``The maintenance of these palatial homes is a costly affair, built as they were with locally available material like laterite stone and limestone plaster. Wood like Burma teak and Mangalore tiles made of clay were used in construction,'' says D'Cunha. These materials, which were found in abundance a few hundred years ago, are difficult to obtain now. ``Just changing the tiles every other year costs Rs 15,000,'' says Dr Loyola-Furtado. The wooden beams have to be kept free from white ants because replacing them is an expensive proposition the Burma teak has to be imported.

However, other house-owners like Jitendra Deshprabhu, member of the Goa Legislative Assembly, are more fortunate. Deshprabhu, whose ancestors were nobles appointed by the Portuguese to rule over the newly-conquered area ofPernem, has his own private forests to provide wood for his `house'. The plinth area of the Palace of Pernem, as the house is known, alone measures 48,000 square metres. ``There is a room for every occasion: a room for the family silver, another for the women of the household to deliver babies, a special hospitality room to entertain guests, ballrooms, banquet halls...''Though the family's living quarters were done up in traditional Indian style, one part of the palace complex was built to suit the tastes of the European aristocracy, who were hosted by the family. According to Deshprabhu, his cousins inhabit one part of the palace while he and his brothers live in another. ``We all pitch in towards its maintenance,'' he says. The family, which owns several businesses, can afford it, though he insists maintenance costs him a bomb.

The house, built in l693, is home to several works of art as well. A life-size portrait of Atmaram Raghunath Prabhudesai Deshprabhu, the first viscount of Pernem and second baron,gazes at every visitor entering the Deshprabhu home. ``It was painted by Gomes DaCosta, who went on to become the president of Portugal in l9l9 after King Don Carlos was overthrown,'' Deshprabhu says. The house is also a storehouse of several paintings and frescoes, which are native to the area of Pernem and neighbouring Sawantwadi in Maharashtra.

Even the well-to-do among the house-owners face several practical problems of maintenance. ``How does one entrust these priceless chandeliers to the servants for cleaning?'' wonders Pradeep Nayak, whose house predates even the arrival of the Portuguese. Other issues include obtaining replacements for damaged furniture, which would otherwise be lost forever.

Naturally, owners of such heritage homes are looking for some form of assistance from official quarters. ``The government could provide us some funds to maintain the houses like a heritage museum,'' says Dr Loyola-Furtado. In return, the government could organise conducted tours through the house for a day ortwo every year, he adds.

Even Deshprabhu feels the government could help the house-owners exploit the tourism potential of their property.

Luckily for the likes of him, the state government is considering such suggestions. ``Since May this year, we have begun to make a list of all the Grade-I and II houses in Panaji and Old Goa followed by houses all over the state,'' reveals an official of the Town and Country Planning Department, which also looks after conservation activities. In all, there are reported to be 300 to 400 such old houses all over the state. However, many of them are in dilapidated condition. ``House-owners who are facing hard times often sell their precious antiques to dealers who smuggle them out of the country,'' he says.

Officials are also considering enforcing some old rules from Portuguese times which made it mandatory for house-owners to paint their premises every year in colours recommended by the authorities. The first step in conservation was taken over the past few years, whenthe state government identified certain localities like Fontainhas, the Latin Quarter of Panaji, and certain spots in Margao and Mapusa as heritage sites. Not only is it impossible for house-owners to demolish their structures, they cannot alter their facades either.

Now, if only the authorities can think of some way to help the house-owners raise revenues out of their heritage homes, there might be some incentive to preserve these for posterity.