Published July 17, 2008 on August 27, 2020

Teardrop Hotels Relaunches Geoffrey Bawa’s Iconic Country Estate – Lunuganga

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Teardrop Hotels recently announced its partnership with The Geoffrey Bawa Trust to revitalise and relaunch Geoffrey Bawa’s Lunuganga estate on the Southwest Coast of Sri Lanka. The nine-bedroom property includes Bawa’s original home with its unique charm and quirkiness, in addition to a three-bed house, he designed and built-in Colombo, which has been painstakingly reconstructed brick by brick on the grounds of the estate.

 

Lunuganga forms an important part of Sri Lanka’s cultural and design heritage. Acquired by famed architect Geoffrey Bawa in 1947 as one of his first projects, Bawa worked tirelessly to transform the house and the gardens from a derelict rubber estate into one of the most beautiful gardens of the 20^th Century.  Elements of Italian Renaissance gardens, English landscaping, Japanese garden art, and the water gardens of ancient Sri Lanka combine to form Bawa’s most extravagant creation – a mecca for those passionate about landscape design and architectural history.

 

The original house, comprised of a former 1930’s plantation bungalow with six private guest suites, is an ode to ‘tropical modernism’ – a blend of antique and modern furniture with traditional and contemporary art, a trademark of Bawa’s eclectic signature style. The Bawa Trust and Teardrop Hotels have made sure to keep changes to the house to an absolute minimum, allowing guests to enjoy the space exactly as Bawa intended them to.

 

Lunuganga now also includes the three-bedroom house of Bawa’s dear friend, Ena de Silva. A batik artist based in Colombo, Ena de Silva and her husband Osmund commissioned Bawa to design their home in 1962 – a pivotal project in his life’s work and the first time he executed the joining of radically modern design with traditional Sri Lankan elements. In 2009, Ena sold the house to The Bawa Trust, which then moved the property brick by brick from its location in Colombo to Lunuganga. The house took three months to disassemble and six years to rebuild, led by Architect Amila de Mel and conservation specialist Nilan Cooray. Everything from the frangipani tree in the front courtyard to the slabs of river stone remains just as it was in the original house.

 

A representative of The Geoffrey Bawa Trust comments: ‘We are delighted to partner with Teardrop Hotels in the running of Lunuganga. They will bring in their successful style of boutique hotel management to the property and offer their luxury hotel service to guests who are keen to experience the unique country estate living style envisioned by Geoffrey Bawa.”

 

Managing Director of Teardrop Hotels, Henry Fitch adds: ‘The spectacular location and stunning gardens are a masterclass in landscape design. Lunuganga is one of the most treasured properties in Sri Lanka and Teardrop Hotels is thrilled to have been entrusted with its management.’

 

A night at Lunuganga – in either the main house or the Ena de Silva villa – starts at USD265++ for two people sharing, inclusive of breakfast. To celebrate the relaunch, Teardrop Hotels is offering guests a 20% discount on all rooms booked before 31st November 2020 – which can then be used anytime until 31^st April 2020.