In 1982, Vinod and Kamala Parekh moved to a farm on the Trimbakeshwar Road outside Nashik, chose to raise their children far from crowded cities, and began building a life with fruit trees and principles. Their son Sumit and his wife Anjali came back to raise their own children in the same farm. The family has been hosting guests since 2009. Three generations, seven acres, five guest rooms, and home-baked bread every morning. Coco the Labrador is available for belly rubs.
The Parekh Farm has the particular quality that only places with long histories develop: the sense that everything in it has earned its place, that nothing is accidental or recently assembled, that the warmth of the people who live there has seeped into the walls over decades rather than being switched on for guests. When Vinod and Kamala Parekh moved to Belgaon Dhaga in 1982 — choosing a farm on the Trimbakeshwar Road, 11 kilometres from Nashik city, over the crowded urban environments where they had previously worked — they were making a statement about how they wanted to live. Their son Sumit grew up on that farm. He and his wife Anjali returned to it after their children were born, to raise Devika and Ved in the same way he had been raised.
The family has been hosting guests since 2009 — one of the earliest Airbnb hosts in India — and the reviews that have accumulated over fifteen years tell a consistent story of warmth, conversation, honesty, and the specific pleasure of being received into a household that has been practising hospitality as a way of being, not as a business model.
The Farm
The Parekh Farm occupies seven acres on the Trimbakeshwar Road in the village of Belgaon Dhaga — accessible enough from Nashik to be practical, removed enough from the city’s noise to feel genuinely separate. When Anjali and Sumit moved back in 2006, the farm was connected to the city by a bullock-cart lane. The road has since been upgraded to tarmac, but the farm itself retains the unhurried character of a place that has always operated at its own pace.
The seven acres grow kesar mangoes, bananas, papayas, guavas, jamun, passion fruit, mulberries, and a rotating kitchen garden of seasonal vegetables: tomatoes, chilies, aubergines, lettuce, basil, and leafy greens that go directly from the earth to the breakfast table. The family also grows local rice using a fast-disappearing technique — a cultivation practice that Anjali has documented and Sumit maintains with the conviction of someone who understands what is lost when agricultural knowledge disappears.
Three small lily ponds punctuate the gardens, attracting the butterflies and tiny birds that guests describe watching from their room’s private courtyard garden. The photographs of nature taken by the family’s friends — enlarged and unusual — brighten the lounge and dining area with the quality of a personal gallery rather than a hotel lobby.
Anjali’s Architecture
The design of The Retreat at The Parekh Farm is Anjali’s work — the expression of an architect whose practice specialises in environmentally sensitive design. The five guestrooms are set amidst gardens and orchards, each with exposed brick walls, gently sloping roofs, and contemporary modern interiors that blend natural materials, handwoven textiles, and natural textures. Each room has a private courtyard garden — the specific feature that guests consistently describe first: the slice of sky to gaze at, the doves cooing in the afternoon, the morning light arriving through the courtyard rather than through a corridor.
The exposed brick construction keeps the rooms cool in the Nashik summer and warm in the winter. The architecture is rooted in the principle that Anjali articulates clearly: building in harmony with the environment, incorporating sustainable design from the foundation up. The farm has been the Parekh home for three generations, and the design reflects that continuity — every renovation and expansion has been made with the original character intact.
Vinod’s Herbal Tea
The recipe for the herbal tea at The Parekh Farm belongs to Vinod Parekh, Sumit’s father. This is a specific and earnestly cited detail in multiple guest reviews — the recipe that only Vinod knows, the tea that arrives after the breakfast bread and somehow completes the morning in a way that nothing else could. Vinod and Kamala are part of the daily fabric of a stay at the farm: their social sector careers took them across the world, and their willingness to engage in long conversations about anything makes guests reluctant to leave.
Anjali bakes the breakfast bread and cake. Guests describe these as capital — the specific word. Home-baked bread at a farm, warm from the oven, with the fruit and produce of the seven acres as accompaniment: this is what breakfast means at the Parekh Farm.
The Animals
Coco the Labrador is available for belly rubs at all times and likes nothing better than a splash in water. Kitu the cat is a feline duchess who demands to be petted and answers to her name. Together, they are described with the disproportionate affection that only genuinely beloved animals generate — and they have made appearances in guest reviews spanning many years.
The farm itself is a living community of animals beyond the domestic: birds in the orchard, butterflies in the lily pond garden, the small creatures of a working organic farm that has been managed without chemicals for decades.
Nashik and What It Offers
Nashik is Maharashtra’s second most important pilgrimage city, the site of the Kumbh Mela cycle, and the wine capital of India — a combination that makes it one of the most unexpectedly layered destinations in the state. The Sula Vineyards, York Winery, and the broader Nashik wine belt are within easy reach of the farm for those who want to combine farmstay simplicity with wine country sophistication. The Trimbakeshwar temple — one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva, among the most significant Shiva temples in India — is on the same road as the farm. Anjeri Fort and Anjaneri Hill, associated with the birth of Hanuman, are accessible for trekking.
The three-hour drive from Mumbai makes the Parekh Farm the most accessible proper farmstay from India’s largest city — close enough for a weekend, far enough for genuine countryside.
Why It Stays With You
A guest described the Parekhs as delightful and wondered where all the blessed minutes slipped away at the end of the stay, amid long conversations about pretty much anything under the sun. Another described the farm as having a sense of calm and freshness that envelops you. A third guest came for a birthday and described the day as one for the record books.
The Parekh Farm has been hosting people since 2009. In that time, Vinod and Kamala have watched their grandchildren grow up on the same land where Sumit grew up. Anjali has expanded the farm architecture she designed. Sumit has deepened the farming practices he inherited. Coco has learned about belly rubs. Kitu has refined her expectations.
The exposed brick keeps the rooms cool. The herbal tea recipe is Vinod’s. The bread is from Anjali’s oven. The passion fruit is available for picking off the vine. This is three generations of a family that chose to live this way, sharing it with anyone who understands why.
Plan Your Visit
Address: Trimbakeshwar Road, Belgaon Dhaga, Nashik, Maharashtra — 422213 (11 km from Nashik city) Website: theparekhfarm.in Booking: Direct via website · Airbnb (search The Parekh Farm Nashik) · TripAdvisor Check-in / Check-out: Contact for details
Family: Anjali Parekh (architect, host) · Sumit Parekh (farm manager, host) · Vinod Parekh (Sumit’s father — herbal tea recipe keeper) · Kamala Parekh (Sumit’s mother) · Devika and Ved (Anjali and Sumit’s children) On the farm since: 1982 · Hosting guests since: 2009 Resident animals: Coco (Labrador, belly rub specialist) · Kitu (cat, duchess)
Property: 7 acres · Organic farm (no chemicals) · Kesar mango, banana, papaya, guava, jamun, passion fruit, mulberry, seasonal vegetables, local rice · Three lily ponds · Gardens and orchards
The Retreat: 5 guestrooms · Exposed brick walls · Gently sloping roofs · Each with private courtyard garden · Contemporary modern interiors · Handwoven textiles · Natural materials throughout Sustainability: Environmentally sensitive architecture by Anjali Parekh · Solar power · Organic farming · Traditional cultivation techniques preserved
Meals: Breakfast included (home-baked bread and cake by Anjali) · Farm produce used throughout · Vinod’s herbal tea recipe · Passion fruit from the vine at breakfast
Experiences: Farm walk (fruit orchards, rice cultivation) · Passion fruit picking · Lily pond garden relaxation · Birdwatching and butterfly watching · Nashik wine country excursions · Trimbakeshwar temple visit · Anjaneri Hill trekking
Getting There — Mumbai: approximately 3 hours by road (190 km) via the Mumbai-Nashik Expressway (NH3). The most common route. — Nashik city: 11 km from the farm on the Trimbakeshwar Road — around 20 minutes. — Nasik Road Railway Station: approximately 9 km — around 20 minutes. Regular trains from Mumbai CST and Mumbai Central (approximately 3–4 hours on Panchvati Express and other services). — From Pune: approximately 200 km — around 4 hours. — From Aurangabad: approximately 110 km — around 2.5 hours. — The farm is on the Trimbakeshwar Road (the main road to Trimbakeshwar temple) — well-signed and accessible by private vehicle.
Nearby — Trimbakeshwar Temple (Jyotirlinga): 12 km · Sula Vineyards: 15 km · York Winery: 15 km · Anjaneri Hill: 10 km · Nashik city: 11 km · Mumbai: 3 hours · Pune: 4 hours
Best Time to Visit: October to February for the most pleasant Nashik weather · November to January for cool days and warm evenings ideal for farm walks · March to June for the Alphonso and Kesar mango season — the orchards at their most fragrant and productive · Monsoon (July–September) for lush green and the farm at its most dramatically alive
