Edge villa
On the south lip of the crest, facing the bay. A plunge pool reaches out over the slope, with a net lounge beside it.
from, per nightUSD 950
Weligama, southern Sri Lanka
One working cinnamon estate, seventeen acres, rising to a crest about seventy metres above Weligama Bay. Every villa is a different way of looking at the ocean by day and the stars by night.
The hill
The estate sits about three kilometres inland from the surf town of Weligama, on a hill planted with cinnamon and stepped with old dry-stone terraces. The soil is red laterite, the same earth the walls will be made from.
Arrival is part of the stay. Cars stop at the gate low on the hill. Guests ride up through the cinnamon by electric buggy, about fifty metres of climb, to a pavilion that keeps the view hidden until the last step.
The view comes first. The crest runs east to west with open sky to the south. Villas sit on and around it so that each one faces the bay or the night sky without looking into another.
Still to confirm. The sea view has been measured from maps and elevation data. A drone flight at 5, 10, 20 and 30 metres above the crest will confirm what each villa actually sees over the trees, and a licensed contour survey will fix how many villas fit.
Around the estate. Surf breaks at Weligama and Ahangama, whale watching from Mirissa, and Galle Fort are all within a short drive.
The villas
Twenty keys in the first phase, every one a stand-alone villa. Each type has one signature element, and each exists to serve the view.
On the south lip of the crest, facing the bay. A plunge pool reaches out over the slope, with a net lounge beside it.
Raised on stilts among the trees on the slope. You enter by a bridge; the bath is outdoors and part of the floor is a hammock net.
A permanent dome, a thin shell on a curved earth-block base, sheltered by the hill on its north side. A sunken lounge bed lies under a roof that opens for stargazing and closes itself when it rains.
Mirror-glass walls that disappear into the cinnamon, under a wide curved roof that shades the glass and keeps the rain off. They stand in their own cluster on the lower terraces. One is built first and watched through a monsoon.
A four-bedroom estate house for families, small weddings and buyouts, with an 18-metre pool, its own kitchen and a butler.
Rates are planning figures for the high season: two guests (six in the Residence), all meals and all taxes included. They are not offers. Sizes, counts and rates come from the concept plan and will change with the architect's design.
On the crest
The shared places carry the estate's name further than any advertisement. Each one is engineered, staffed where it needs to be, and built around the view.
A harnessed, staffed swing out over the south edge. Free for guests; a small number of outside visitors by reservation.
A stainless-steel slide from the crest bar down to the pool terrace, planned as an addition after the first season.
An infinity pool with sunken seats that point at the bay, beside the sunset bar and restaurant.
By buggy up through the cinnamon to a pavilion that holds the view back until the last step.
Ayurveda spa, yoga pavilion, cinnamon peeling with the estate's own peelers, terrace walks.
Surf lessons, whale watching, Galle Fort, tea and temple days inland.
Stargazing from the domes and the crest, with the opening roofs and low lighting across the estate.
Being designed next
These are proposals at sketch stage. None is costed, engineered or approved yet.
An open chairlift from the gate to the crest, rising about fifty metres through the cinnamon.
The way back down: hand-woven cane sledges on a winding track, steered by two estate runners.
Breakfast and sundowners reach each villa deck by a small cableway, in closed brass tiffin tins.
The pavilion's leaf roof gathers the monsoon and pours it as one curtain of water beside the pool.
The table
Guests on a hilltop should not have to plan dinner. The main rate includes breakfast, lunch and dinner at the crest restaurant or in the villa. A bed-and-breakfast rate is offered beside it for guests who prefer to eat out.
Design
The look is the flowing bamboo-and-earth architecture of Bali, built with materials and trades from the island. Walls of earth block, laterite and stone under lime plaster, laid on a curve. Roofs shaped like leaves and shells, on timber or steel ribs under bamboo shingles, clay tile and thatch, with woven bamboo ceilings. The architect has not yet been appointed.
Own a villa
On the lower lots, below the hotel villas, the plan includes two-bedroom estate villas for sale. Owners use them part of the year and the estate lets and runs them the rest.
Estate villa, two bedrooms
EUR 320,000
| Planning case | Cautious | Base | Strong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of the year the villa is let | 45% | 57% | 65% |
| Owner's income as a share of the price | 6.5% | 10.1% | 13.9% |
| Owner's income per year, base case | EUR 32,464 |
This page is not an offer to sell. Terms are a proposal still to be reviewed by lawyers in Sri Lanka and in each buyer's home country. Foreign buyers cannot hold freehold land in Sri Lanka, which is why the tenure is a long lease.
The plan
The estate opens small and grows only once its first high season has shown that the rates hold.
34 keys
Twenty hotel villas on and around the crest, the restaurant, bar, spa rooms, crest pool and swing, and the first fourteen estate villas.
50 keys
Ten more hotel villas and six more estate villas, if the contour survey shows they fit without overlooking the first ones.
12–16 suites
A main lodge with suites stepped into the slope beneath the restaurant's roof takes the place of the villas that do not fit.
Months 0–3
Drone flight, contour and boundary survey, title search, slope clearance, first master plan, architect shortlist.
Months 3–9
Land purchase, concept design, planning submissions, estate-villa sales open from a viewing deck on the crest.
Months 9–27
The mirror cabin prototype and one show villa of each type come first and see a monsoon before the rest are built.
Month 27 onward
Soft opening aimed at a December high season. Estate villas are handed over in two batches over the following 18 months.