Fifteen kilometres from Nainital, on a farm on the edge of a hill in the hamlet of Faguniakhet, a Pahadi-Telugu couple took a stone house built by a Kumaoni farmer and expanded it into one of the most thoughtfully sustainable homestays in the Kumaon Himalayas. Aditi and Anil built this place for themselves first. Then they opened it to four guests at a time who understand what it is.
The property was always going to be found, eventually, by the people who needed it. The question was only how long it would take. Fagunia Farmstay is 15 kilometres from Nainital, 4 kilometres off the main Nainital-Kaladhungi road, at the end of a scenic but rugged forest track and then a 450-metre walk down a cemented village path to a farm on the edge of a hill. The views from that farm — of the mountains of Pangot and the Nainital ridge, of a valley dropping away below and forested hills rising on every side — are spectacular. The farm itself, surrounded by forest and seasonal waterfalls on two sides and open farmland on the third, is one of those places that arrives as a complete surprise despite everything the description has suggested.
Aditi and Anil are the couple who live here. Aditi is from the hills of Uttarakhand — Pahadi, with the particular knowledge of the Kumaon landscape and culture that comes from growing up inside it. Anil is from Andhra Pradesh — Telugu, carrying the food traditions and cultural sensibility of coastal South India. Together, they represent the exact synthesis that their homestay expresses: the Kumaoni stone construction and permaculture practices of the hills, and the care, creativity, and flavour of a South Indian household applied to mountain cooking.
The stone house was originally built by a Kumaoni farmer — hand-built, stone by stone, in the building tradition of the Kumaon region. Aditi and Anil found it, fell in love with it, and expanded it — carefully, sustainably, respecting the original construction. The result is a split-level building with upcycled stone walls, reclaimed wood, and a quirky layout that carries the story of the land and the hands that built it in every corner.
The Farm and the Philosophy
Fagunia is not only a homestay. It is a permaculture farm, a social support foundation, and a producer of organic microlots — small batches of seasonally grown produce from the farm. This ecosystem of interconnected purposes reflects the couple’s fundamental belief: that living in harmony with nature is a complete project, not a feature.
The permaculture farm produces the food that goes into Fagunia’s kitchen. Seasonal vegetables, herbs, and fruit — grown with no chemicals, using methods that regenerate the soil rather than deplete it. The microlots that Fagunia sells are an extension of this practice: giving guests and the broader community access to the same seasonal, organic produce that feeds the farmstay table.
The Fagunia Foundation supports the local community — the hamlets and villages of the surrounding area whose land and livelihoods are interwoven with the farm’s sustainability. This is the dimension of the property that is not immediately visible to guests but that gives the stay its particular moral depth.
The Rooms and the Space
Fagunia can host a maximum of four guests. This is not a limit imposed by physical constraints but a deliberate choice about what kind of experience is possible and what kind of experience the couple wants to offer. At four guests, Fagunia remains a home shared with guests, not a hotel managed for guests.
The architecture harmonises traditional Kumaoni stone building techniques with contemporary minimalist influences. The rooms have the quality of spaces designed by people who understand both good design and the specific challenges of building at altitude: the warmth that stone walls provide in winter, the coolness in summer, the way natural materials make a space breathable. The split-level layout creates distinct areas for different activities within a small total footprint.
The guest experience at Fagunia is a study in deliberate comfort. Broadband WiFi at 100 Mbps ensures connectivity for those who need it. Solar power runs the property. The minimum stay is two nights — long enough to make the journey worthwhile and the deceleration genuine.
The Food
The food at Fagunia is its most specific and most celebrated pleasure: pahadi flavours — the robust, fresh, lightly spiced cooking of the Kumaon hills — combined with South Indian influences from Anil’s heritage. The result is a cuisine that belongs entirely to this house and these two people, and cannot be found anywhere else.
The caretaker who manages the day-to-day — and who cooks the meals when Aditi and Anil are preparing rather than serving — has been specifically and repeatedly praised in guest reviews for the quality of the food. Meals are made from farm-fresh seasonal produce, often straight from the garden outside the kitchen window. The wood-fired pizza — unexpected and entirely successful — is available for those who discover they want something outside the pahadi-South Indian repertoire. Bonfire evenings with barbecue under the stars are available in the winter months.
What to Do
Forest walks to discover hidden waterfalls. Birdwatching in a landscape that sits on the edge of the Pangot birding zone — one of the finest birding areas in the Kumaon Himalayas, with a remarkable diversity of species. Butterfly watching in the garden. Permaculture farm visits. Observation of village life in the surrounding hamlets.
Nainital — the most famous of the Kumaon hill stations, with its crater lake, the promenade, the Naini Devi temple, and the surrounding forested ridges — is 15 kilometres away: close enough for a comfortable day trip, far enough that the Fagunia experience is entirely separate from Nainital’s tourist infrastructure.
The Neem Karoli Baba Ashram at Kainchi Dham — one of the most spiritually significant pilgrimage sites in the Kumaon hills, attracting both devotees and the merely curious from around the world — is accessible for day visits.
Why It Stays With You
Aditi and Anil describe Fagunia as a labour of love — a phrase that in their case describes something more specific than the usual expression. They left urban careers. They found a Kumaoni stone house. They expanded it by hand. They planted a permaculture farm. They built a social foundation for the surrounding community. They opened it to four guests at a time who understand what they have built.
The award-winning recognition that Fagunia has received — from responsible tourism organisations, from Hushstays, from CNT’s own curation — reflects the consistent verdict of guests who found in this edge-of-a-hill farm something rare: a place built with genuine conviction by people who live there, run sustainably because they believe in it rather than because it is fashionable, and offering four guests at a time the experience of living, briefly, inside a complete vision of how life in the mountains can be.
The views are spectacular. The food is extraordinary. The caretaker cooks brilliantly. The wood-fired pizza is an unexpected delight. And somewhere on the farm, outside the reclaimed wood window, the sunset is dropping behind the hills.
Plan Your Visit
Address: Faguniakhet hamlet, approximately 15 km from Nainital, 4 km off the Nainital-Kaladhungi road, Nainital District, Uttarakhand (altitude: ~5,000 feet) Website: fagunia.com Booking: Direct via website (recommended — read the “What to Expect” guide before booking) · Also on Hushstays (hushstays.com/fagunia-near-nainital-uttarakhand)
Owners: Aditi (Pahadi — Uttarakhand) and Anil (Telugu — Andhra Pradesh) Awards: Award-winning eco-homestay (multiple responsible tourism recognitions) Projects: Fagunia Farmstay · Fagunia Farm (permaculture) · Fagunia Foundation (community) · Fagunia Microlots (organic produce)
Property: Stone construction (originally built by Kumaoni farmer, expanded by Aditi and Anil) · Upcycled stone and reclaimed wood · Split-level layout · Solar powered · Permaculture farm · Seasonal waterfall on property · Forest surrounds
Capacity: Maximum 4 guests · Minimum 2-night stay · Entire homestay exclusively for booked guests WiFi: 100 Mbps broadband + Jio 4G (carry Jio dongle as backup for critical connectivity)
Access: From village parking area → 450m walk down cemented village path (5–10 minutes, moderate incline). Pack light — backpacks strongly recommended over suitcases. Not wheelchair-friendly or suitable for guests with significant mobility concerns.
Meals: Farm-to-table pahadi and South Indian cuisine · Seasonal organic produce from Fagunia Farm · Wood-fired pizza available · Bonfire barbecue (winter) · Meals included in stay
Experiences: Permaculture farm tour · Forest walks (seasonal waterfalls) · Birdwatching (edge of Pangot bird zone) · Butterfly watching · Village life observation · Nainital day trip · Neem Karoli Baba Ashram / Kainchi Dham visit
Getting There — Kathgodam Railway Station: approximately 40 km — around 1.5 hours by road. Regular trains from Delhi Anand Vihar (6–7 hours). — Pantnagar Airport: approximately 80 km — around 2 hours. — From Delhi: approximately 285 km — around 6 hours via Moradabad and Haldwani. — From Nainital: approximately 15 km — around 30–40 minutes by road on the Nainital-Kaladhungi road, then 4 km on an unpaved forest track to the village parking area. — From Kathgodam: approximately 40 km — around 1.5 hours. — GPS often unreliable for the final 4 km. Coordinate with Aditi and Anil for detailed final directions before arrival. Share your ETA on the day of arrival.
Nearby — Nainital: 15 km · Pangot (birding): 20 km · Kainchi Dham (Neem Karoli Baba Ashram): 15 km · Bhimtal: 25 km · Mukteshwar: 40 km · Kathgodam: 40 km
Best Time to Visit: October to June (property open year-round) · October to December for post-monsoon clarity and the mountains at their most vivid · January to February for snow and the warmth of the wood-fired kitchen in full winter operation · March to May for spring and the farm at its most productive · Monsoon (July–September) available but the forest track can be challenging — confirm with Aditi and Anil
