Homes + Decor

12 Sri Lankan Homes That Will Inspire Your Vacation House Decor

The country’s rich architectural history will have you booking a ticket to the tropics

June 12, 2016

With its unpredictable climate and range of colonial influence—Dutch, Portuguese, British—it comes as no surprise that Sri Lanka presents a truly fascinating architectural landscape. Now, in At Home in Sri Lanka ($45; Thames & Hudson), photographer James Fennell and writer Tom Sykes explore the signature qualities of the country’s compelling homes. Hallmarks of the equatorial region, it turns out, include colonnaded verandas, winding balconies, high ceilings, and breezy folding doors, features that cater to the sticky, tropical weather and the torrential downpour that might suddenly devolve. Take a spin through some of the book’s highlights to inspire the decorating scheme for your next vacation house.

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Architect Chelvadurai Anjalendran’s Crooked House makes use of an eye-catching color palette.
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Rather than using glass, Anjalendran employed two external walls to create natural ventilation that would keep the interior cool.

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The bedrooms at the Geoffrey Bawa–designed Claughton House feature vintage and retro-inspired posters from the Galle boutique Stick No Bills, a popular fixture in Sri Lanka, where many homeowners are reluctant to put blue-chip artworks on the walls for fear of weather damage.
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Spanish artist Nuria Lamsdorff hand-painted the ceiling in the drawing room with lotus flowers, a recurring motif throughout the home.

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Due to its smart positioning, the plunge pool at Malabar House remains remarkably cool during the day.
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The Walatta house, comprising a glass-and-brick living space, an elevated roof terrace, and a swimming pool—seamlessly blends outdoor and indoor space.

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At Kumara Villa—a series of freestanding pavilions—a modern kitchen in the central room opens to a delectable poolside area.
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The central hallway of this home is anchored by a live tree growing toward the sky, flanked by two pillars. Rainproof furniture, made of wood with woven seats, is scattered about.

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The interior of a swimming pool is clad with small stone mosaic tiles.
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In this home, concrete pillars turned at a slight angle are a contemporary riff on the work of Sri Lanka’s great modern architect, Geoffrey Bawa.

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A lookout point bears its own sort of rain slicker—a drop-down surround that can be employed in case of a storm.
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The bedroom balconies on the first floor offer unrivaled views of the sea.