For what purpose was the Mistry Home built in the novel, The Widows of Malabar Hill?

In the late 1880s, Mistry Construction had built the home that was divided in two sections, a zenana, or section of the house meant for wives and small children, and another section for men living at the home and visitors. Jali walls and windows separate the two sections of the house at intervals. These are perforated metal screens that allowed the women “to observe the action from which they were excluded. . . an intentional part of Muslim architecture” (71).