A Song For Geoffrey

Art, music and the architect’s signature style come together in the De Saram house. takes an exclusive first look at the residence, newly restored by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust

- IshanthI Gunawardana

The De Sarams own significant pieces of art, which are mostly curated on the walls of the music room. Clockwise from top left are the ancestral portrait of Christoffel Henricus de Saram, 4th Mahamudaliyar of the Governor’s Gate; Justin Deraniyagala’s Nedra, Fruit Seller and Musician; Ivan Peries’s Family on the Beach; and Richard Gabriel’s Boy with Bull (from the Geoffrey Bawa collection).

Druvi’s baby grand still stands in the music room where he practised long ago. The room also houses part of a collection of Sri Lankan masks belonging to the De Sarams, the remainder of which is at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.

Shuttered Dutch doors span the length of the open dining room and open to a reflective pond. Facing page: The courtyard adjacent to the dining room frames a whimsical minstrel’s gallery (hiding a water tank tower) flanked by orange jasmine and frangipani trees. Bamboo chiks unfurl to provide shelter from the weather. The batik tablecloth was designed by Ena de Silva, Bawa’s long-time collaborator and friend.

These elongated corridors set against the property’s boundary allow natural light and ventilation into either side of the narrow outdoor shower in the main bedroom en suite. Facing page: The saffron orange wall of the small courtyard is adjacent to their daughter Mandhira’s bedroom; it is not an original feature of the house but was created by architect Amila de Mel during the restoration in the spirit of Bawa’s outdoor shower in the main bedroom.