Four friends bought a crumbling 100-year-old mansion in Sri Lanka for £315,000 and have spent four years transforming it into a luxury villa.
When the property caught the attention of interior designer Dean Sharpe in 2010 there was a tree growing through the roof, bats living in the rafters, termites eating the plaster and tiles falling off the kitchen walls.
What sounds like a restoration nightmare for many did not stop Sharpe, his partner Bentley de Beyer and friends Jenny Lewis and Richard Bleasdale from purchasing the mansion and two surrounding acres in 2011.
Four pals bought a crumbling 100-year-old mansion in Sri Lanka for £315,000 and have spent four years transforming it into a luxury villa
When the property caught the attention of interior designer Dean Sharpe in 2010 there was a tree growing through the roof, bats living in the rafters, termites eating the plaster and tiles falling off the kitchen walls
‘It was a ruin of what it once was but we walked in and fell in love with it,’ Sharpe told Insider.
Named Halala Kanda – and known locally as Firefly Hill – it is located on a Sri Lankan hillside near the town Weligama.
The mansion was built in 1912 by the son of a wealthy plantation owner trying to woo his bride.
Renovations began in December 2012 - a century after the mansion was first constructed.
Named Halala Kanda – and known locally as Firefly Hill – the mansion is located on a Sri Lankan hillside near the town Weligama
Renovations began in December 2012, a century after the mansion was first constructed
Sharpe and his three friends Jenny Lewis, Richard Bleasdale and Bentley de Beyer purchased the mansion and two surrounding acres in 2011. ‘It was a ruin of what it once was but we walked in and fell in love with it,’ Sharpe said
Demolition took four months to complete and there were pressures to move fast to get tarpaulin on the roof to protect the property from monsoon season. Halala Kanda was in livable condition by 2014 equipped with air conditioning, plumbing and electrical
Demolition took four months to complete and there were pressures to move fast to get tarpaulin on the roof to protect the property from monsoon season.
Two years later in 2014, Halala Kanda was in livable condition equipped with air conditioning, plumbing and electrical.
Before, the mansion’s only water source was a well in the garden.
The Halala Kanda owners and restoration team (from left to right): Bentley de Beyer, Dean Sharpe, Richard Bleasdale, Jenny Lewis
Before the renovation the mansion’s only water source was a well in the garden
Sharpe and his three friends wanted the mansion ‘to look as authentic as possible but didn’t want to create a pastiche of what went before’
‘We didn’t do a big bonfire and burn everything,’ Sharpe said.
Instead the friends considered every piece of the home before scrapping it. ‘Each window frame and roof joist was carefully removed and stacked,’ he added.
The friends wanted the mansion ‘to look as authentic as possible but didn’t want to create a pastiche of what went before’.
Sharpe was tasked with designing the villa, which wraps around an open-air courtyard.
He commissioned architect Ross Logie to help bring his visions to life.
Sharpe was tasked with designing the villa, which wraps around an open-air courtyard. He commissioned architect Ross Logie to help bring his visions to life
‘We didn’t do a big bonfire and burn everything,’ Sharpe said. Instead he and his friends considered every piece of the home before scrapping it
Logie and Sharpe added some modern twists including a corrugated iron roof to reflect the heat and give the house a contemporary look. Logie made the internal rooms more appealing to future houseguests by creating sight lines that gave every room a view of the jungle
The four friends considered every piece of the home before scrapping it. ‘Each window frame and roof joist was carefully removed and stacked,’ Sharpe said
Sharpe declined to share how much was spent on the renovation.
Logie and Sharpe added some modern twists including a corrugated iron roof to reflect the heat and give the house a contemporary look.
