BRAGANZA HOUSE SRI LANKA

An eye-popping update on the traditional Sri Lankan villa beckons near Galle.

- Harriet Compston

A beach house in the countryside. That was the vision of Chloe Elkerton, owner of Braganza House, when she bought a plot of land in Talpe, a 25-minute tuk-tuk ride south of Galle. Fast forward to today and this whimsical villa-all corals, pinks and greens might just be the most photogenic house in Sri Lanka. Opened last December, it's a playful scene of hand-crafted furniture, rattan, nature-inspired artwork, ceramics and bold prints. The result is a mesmerising new take on a Sri Lankan villa.

"The house is really a collection of my favourite things," says Chlöe as we sit in Lionel's Bar, the villa's breezy ambalama shelter (named after her tuk-tuk driver), with its cinnamon-stick roof. Avocado the dog is by her side. These favourite things include not only the beach, but a passion for different, seemingly clashing cultures-all played out in Braganza through a marvellous mingling of colour, pattern and shape. It's a textured, happy-making place where you want to take everything home, right down to the small brass crab peeking out from behind a sculptural turquoise lamp.

UK-born Chlöe studied fashion at Bristol before doing a textiles degree at Goldsmiths, which prompted a career as an interiors stylist. After her father died and the recession hit in 2008, she rented out her flat in London and moved to Singapore. Five years later, she founded E&A Interiors, a design firm which focuses on full renovation projects, from Singaporean black-and-whites to fabulous villas in Bali.