Cinema Scope

Dreaming of a palm-fringed paradise of the movies, this couple spliced comfort and luxury to edit a serene Sri Lankan retreat with star quality.

- Nadine Bush

The young English bride of a rich tea plantation owner who comes to live at his property in Ceylon battles nature and isolation. So goes the story line of Elephant Walk, a 1954 Paramount Pictures film set in the lush jungles of what is now known as Sri Lanka. With beautiful cinematography and the heady presence of stars Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Finch, the film was impressive in its day.

Young Englishman Tony Bannister was utterly intrigued by the film when he first viewed it as a teenager and it ignited in him a passion for all things colonial: the tea plantations, the way of life in Ceylon at that time, the lush landscape and an appreciation of size and perspective of the design and aspect of space in houses from that era. His fascination with the teardrop-shaped island has been present ever since.

Many years later Tony’s partner, hotelier Paul Walters, was working in Bali as general manager of two Ubud resorts (The Serai, now Alila, and The Chedi Club), both conceived by the visionary behind Aman Resorts, Adrian Zecha. The resort group was developing a number of properties in Sri Lanka at the time and Paul also had a growing interest in the country.

In August 2005, while the island nation was still struggling in the aftermath of the tsunami of the year before, Tony and Paul decided to visit. While there they met long-time resident of Galle Fort, Charles Hulse, a keen advocate of Sri Lanka who acted as a matchmaker for people looking to buy there.

Charles took Tony and Paul for a drive to view a one-hectare property in Angulugaha, not far from Galle. “I got goosebumps when we arrived,” says Tony. The small house on the property was built in traditional Sinhalese style with good bones and it was owned by a Sri Lankan family who wanted to move to the capital city, Colombo.