Thambili House

The villa’s history dates back 300 years, when Sri Lanka was the world’s only source of prime-quality cinnamon –  a Dutch spice trader built a jewel of a house within the fortified port city of Galle. Recently restored by Rohan Aluwihara, a protégé of the renowned Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, the three bedroomed, fully air conditioned, Thambili House is today a haven of comfort, privacy and refinement for discriminating visitors. Set right next to the Fort Rampart, a few yards from the 300-year-old Masjid Meera Jumma Mosque and the famous Galle Fort Lighthouse, Thambili house is one of the few properties in the Fort overlooking the picturesque southern Indian Ocean to also have a swimming pool.

This two-storied, spice merchant’s house is designed with uneven walls and cut cement flooring. The interiors are tastefully decorated with 16th, 17th and 18th Century antique ebony and calamander furniture and contemporary local art. Thambili House can accommodate up to eight guests and is rented to one party at a time on a villa only basis.