Sense & Serendipity

It took a genius to redesign this Sri Lankan stable into the architectural landmark it is today—it also took friendship to turn it into a home. Luckily for Sunethra Bandaranaike, Geoffrey Bawa was both

- Smriti Daniel

Behind the stables is a cluster of straight tall trees going deep into a forest. Sunethra has a particular liking for clay pots, which give a decorative touch to the interior and the garden. She purchased the pots—once used to store dried fish—from antique dealers during the house’s construction. The stable itself, she’s been told, was an ancestor’s house. As the years passed, and it fell into disuse, it found new life as a stable for her grandfather’s horses.

A handsome Dutch door adorns the loggia; the pillars supporting the porch roof are also Dutch antiques. Sunethra purchased the door and pillars from an old manor house near Galle. The benches were custom-made by her carpenter. Facing page: A side view of the house—a stone staircase connects the two levels of the garden.

A shaded corner of the lawn with yellow flowering Indian laburnum trees and a circular stone table finds use as a spot for drinks and conversations. Facing page: The table laid for a ‘hopper’ breakfast; a hopper is a bowl-shaped pancake. The polished brass chairs were designed by Bawa.

A view of the long veranda—the painting of Buddha and his disciples is from the Kandyan period. The pettagama (storage chest) is an antique in nedun wood; the chair is also antique, from the British period. Facing page: A veranda facing the forest—the oculus offers a glimpse of the foliage on the other side. The benches are, once again, constructed from the headboards of old beds. The low table is also a vintage piece, though the butterfly chairs are more modern. The painted wooden panel dates back to the 15th or 16th century— the era of the Kandyan kingdom.