 Built entirely of wood and surrounded by two stacked verandas around a central interior pillar supporting a steeply pitched roof, the exterior walls of Tranovola were painted red while the roof and railings of the verandas were painted white.Prior to its 1845 remodel, the original long and wide Tranovola took shape in several stages over the course of Radama's reign.The initial building was a two-storey house that in other respects largely followed the traditional architectural norms of the noble class in the highlands.