Upstairs, “we tried to conserve nearly everything as it was, although we did add electricity and plumbing,” Mr. Sachdeva said. Ventilation openings in the gable ends of the building, similar to those seen in traditional Kerala architecture, and a few replacement roof tiles are also new.

The guesthouse, oriented north-south as it always was, is in a garden now. “It seems to belong there, even though the environment is completely different culturally and climatically,” said Mr. Sachdeva, who is also a landscape architect and a co-author of “A Naturalist’s Guide to Trees & Shrubs of India.”

“I know trees,” he said. He took great care not to harm any while relocating Meda, and never worried about Meda’s old wood faring poorly in this much drier, foreign place.

“I think it is very old and like steel,” he said with conviction. “Nothing will happen to it now.”