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Laundry gurus Poonam Jain and her brother-in-law Naveen Nahata, the brains behind family-run WashOn in Dubai, live together with their spouses, four children and Naveen’s parents.
After outgrowing their previous home in Al Furjan, they decided to invest in a five-bedroom property nearby, in Murooj, where the 10 of them can spread out and each of the three families have their own privacy.
It has turned out to be a good financial investment, too, as they’ve almost doubled their money in two years.
The National takes a look around.
Please tell us about your home
Poonam Jain: As you enter, you get a lot of positive vibes. In the entrance we have a mural of Buddha, so that in itself gives good vibes. Plus, all the doors of the house are glass, so there’s a lot of light, which brings in lots of positivity.
Since we are managing four boys, we need a lot of positivity and energy in the house and I think the good lighting and brightness help us to match the energy of the kids.
How is it laid out?
Poonam: There are five bedrooms, all with attached bathrooms. We have an additional bathroom, like a powder room, and a maid’s room, which also has a bathroom.
One of the bedrooms is for our in-laws, one is for Naveen’s family, one for my family, then one for the kids and one for guests.
We have a living room on the ground floor and a lounge area on the upper floor, which we have converted into what I would call a creative room for the kids. We didn’t want TV everywhere in the house, so we only have one on the ground floor.
So, our creative room is like a library for the kids, because they are into reading. It’s decorated with their paintings. It’s the brightest room in our house – otherwise we’ve kept the colour scheme very subtle. It’s for them to go crazy and do what they wish.
We also have a huge backyard and a front yard. On the front side we have kept it like a natural garden and on the back we have artificial grass, so it’s like a playground for our kids. We don’t have a swimming pool, but we have kept it open so they can play football, cricket and whatever because it’s a good enough space for it all.
When did you buy the property?
Naveen Nahata: We bought in 2023 and we got the handover in 2024.
How much did you buy it for?
Naveen: We made a deal of Dh5.2 million. Including fees, it was like Dh5.5 million.
Poonam: Then we spent maybe a million more on the interior of the house.
What renovations have you done?
Poonam: We haven’t renovated, but we customised everything – the furniture and the look of the house as per our taste, like we have changed the flooring on the ground floor to marble.
Renovation was not needed because it was a brand new house.
How would you describe your interior design?
Poonam: It’s mostly simple, but I would say exclusive. It’s minimalistic.
We have not overdone the house, but whatever is in the house speaks for itself. We wanted something you wouldn’t find anywhere else, which is why we got everything customised.
Why did you decide to buy?
Naveen: We are a growing family. We were previously living in Al Furjan, but the house was getting smaller. We’re a family of 10, so we needed a big space.
We’ve always loved Al Furjan as a community so when we got the opportunity to buy in Murooj, we wanted to kids to grow up in a community set-up. This worked well for us.
We have bought before. We were planning to move there, but then we saw this house, and we like the vibe, so we decided to purchase this one and rent that one out.
How much is the house worth now?
Naveen: It has changed. We believe we made a really good decision. Now prices are going for around Dh9.5 million to Dh10 million.
What do you like about this neighbourhood?
Poonam: It’s a fully residential community, so there’s not too much noise. It’s a perfect community for our set-up.
Naveen: If you want to go to Sheikh Zayed Road, it’s a five-minute drive away. You want to go to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road and again it’s five minutes away.
The new airport is coming nearby, so Al Furjan is really centrally located.
Poonam: Dubai Holdings, earlier Nakheel, has thought well about it. It’s a very close-knit community. People meet each other, talk to each other, they plan events. You just put in a WhatsApp group: “Let’s play cricket,” and whoever is free joins. It’s a very nice community.
What facilities do you have?
Poonam: We have a clubhouse, a pool, a basketball court, a padel court. We have a dog park, a lot of walking area, a lot of parks that are safe for kids. There’s also a skate park.
How long do you plan to stay in this property?
Naveen: For as long as we can. For as long as this house is sufficient.
Poonam: Once we feel there’s a need to move on to a bigger one, then maybe we’ll move, otherwise this is a very good house.
He’s been here eight to nine years. I’ve been here for 15 years and have a business, so we plan to stay in Dubai.
