“We never saw the house,” confesses Kumar Sangakkara, the cricket commentator and former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team, as we sit in his holiday home in Galle. Before he bought the house on Leyn Baan Street, he’d only seen it from the outside. “But we had walked the Fort, knew the area so well and knew the location,” explains his wife, Yehali. It may have been a blind buy, but it was a serendipitous leap of faith in many ways.
The couple wandered through Galle Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for seven years, looking for the perfect property. It had been a dream to own a house within the Fort—a natural fit for the Sangakkara family, who are ardent beach enthusiasts and love the gentle energy that hums through the area. “We love surfing—the kids have got into it too. Our favourite place is Wijaya Beach and we spend a lot of time there,” shares Yehali.
The last decade has seen a tourism boom on the paisley-shaped island. And Galle hits a geographical sweet spot—easily accessible from Colombo and in proximity to beautiful beaches along the coast. The historical Fort city is now a meeting point of the old and new, where villas, hotels, restaurants and shops filled with touristy paraphernalia rub shoulders with the original residents.
SLICE OF HISTORY
The Sangakkaras wanted their holiday home to retain its historical integrity but also stray from the archetypal villa found within the Fort. “We wanted people to be a bit surprised. We always said it would be a little like Marmite—people will either love it or hate it when they walk in,” says Kumar.
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