India, April 18 -- Part of the beauty of the bungalow lies in its refusal to be boxed-in. It is a form of housing that has shape-shifted, over about 250 years, accommodating local cultures, climates and terrains in different parts of the world. It has evolved to embrace new artistic styles and innovations.

Calcutta, mid-1700s on: Even before the East India Company began to govern in India, it was setting up factories, warehouses, trading posts, barracks for their armed guards - and homes. Calcutta had been the base of these operations since about 1690.

By the 1750s, the colonial bungalow had become a status symbol in a fast-growing city that, from 1764 on, would be governed by the Company, after the defeat of the Nawab of Bengal. Calcut...