Footloose
The new shine on Emerald Island
VEEJAY SAI AND NIMISH JAIN
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Sri Lanka has more than the stereotyped beach holidays, wildlife safaris and mask factories. Tintagel is the new world-class destination for the traveller willing to splurge.
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Photo: NIMISH JAIN
Tintagel: Old world ambience and new world luxury.
For whatever reasons the legendary king Arthur named his castle, Tintagel comes back time and again to haunt and fascinate the public domain in yet another new avatar in unsuspecting corners of the world. In the well-guarded and plush Rosemead place of Colombo city is the stately mansion of the first family of Sri Lanka that created political history for over a quarter of a century. The Bandaranaike family ruled the country sitting inside the very halls of this manor. The premier Solomon Bandaranaike was assassinated by unsuspicious Buddhist monks in these very porticos, his wife Sirimavo became the world’s first woman prime minister in these very corridors and their daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga became the first woman president of Sri Lanka growing up in these gardens. Contrary to general perception, Tintagel was not built for the Bandaranaikes, but for a well-known Gynaecologist of the last century, Dr. Lucien de Zilwa who designed it himself with the Parsee architect Homi Bilimoria in 1929. The de Zilwa family lived there for more than a decade, till 1942. During World War II, the house was commandeered virtually overnight for the use of British troops and returned somewhat battle-scarred after. Disheartened by the ruin of his beautiful home, its tennis courts destroyed and teak floorboards damaged, Dr. de Zilwa decided to dispose of it below cost to Sir Solomon Bandaranaike for Rs. 1,60,000. It was for his Oxford educated son, an ambitious young politician and his family then living in Lionel Wendt’s house ‘Wentworth’ at Guildford Crescent.
After living in this house for several decades, the ‘B’ family decided to move out. “After living abroad in Australia and all over for several years, I decided it was time to return home and do something for my country. I contacted my close friend Sunethra Bandaranaike who wanted to price some old furniture in Tintagel. She had, by then, spoken of leasing it out to a foreign mission. My aim was to preserve this place for posterity. I took it as a challenge to accept it under my aegis and that is how this massive project landed in my lap,” says entrepreneur and Sri Lanka’s design guru Udayshanth Fernando, the current heir of this place.
One of its kind
Shanth, who is a globally recognised name among design circles, transformed the existing place into a high-end fine-dining private boutique hotel to provide a world-class experience to the regular tourist. His “Paradise Road” gallery cafeteria is one of its kind in the whole world. “It took just a year when they built this place in 1929. But to do the makeover, it took me close to three years of hard work. What you see now is the labour of love,” adds Shanth. Roping in architect Philip Weeraratne to re-do the interiors, Shanth set out to pick the most exquisite antiques from across the world over a long period of time and compile them in tune with the new theme of the transformed Tintagel. “I bought chandeliers from Baccarat, gilded mirrors from Paris, customised hand-woven carpets from Nepal, traditional wee-malu weaves, Chinese cabinets, Burmese reliquaries and much more. See those feather mattresses over the regular mattress, they cost me a bomb and probably nowhere else in this country,” adds a proud Shanth flaunting his work.
Having been a student of the legendary Geoffry Bawa and inspired by his vision, Shanth decided to change the theme of architecture and design he would use inside Tintagel. Often provocative, eclectic and queer in its theme you will be shocked to find a varied mix of artefacts adorning the interiors. The edges of the swimming pool are nude silhouettes of six men, who look like they could walk to life any moment. “I am a great fan of the famous photographer Lionel Wendt. I am a proud owner of many of his original nudes. I have framed some of them up on these walls. Yes! I like to be provocative! Why not?’ he asks, questioning the stringent norms of a country predominant with Buddhist monks.
Elegant touch
There are totally 10 rooms and each of these is designed as world-class suite. The trademark Paradise Road stripes are everywhere, the 10 suites (Superior, Executive and Junior) in particular unfolding in stripey walls and coverings in two-toned combinations of colour — ebony and ivory, avocado and chocolate, mud and ebony etc. The result is sleekly elegant. The four-poster beds are again Shanth’s own design and comfort is uppermost in the plump feather and down quilts, the Egyptian cotton sheets. The mod cons are present too — flat screen TVs, Bose music systems and mini Jacuzzis in the bathrooms. The library, a feature in the old house with some 6,000 books now has a collection of 500 leather-bound volumes, handpicked by Shanth, again an eclectic mix, ranging from Jane Austen to books on his pet subjects of architecture, travel and Buddhism. While there is no vast garden space, the courtyard on one side offers opportunities for al-fresco dining under garden umbrellas, with a sprawling thumbergia creeper affording effective cover, cascading white blossoms against a curtain of green. Inside, the main dining area where non-resident guests can make a booking is all muted elegance — grey silk panels on the walls and dusky burgundy glassware, again custom-made for Tintagel. Deep within the inner recesses of the mansion are the gym and the kitchens, well equipped with cold room, butchery and bakery, new and necessary additions for Tintagel, the hotel. The clientele of this place so far includes the who’s who of the world. For a mansion that has seen history being created through the ages, is it surprising to see more in the making?
Contact Info:
* Email: info@tintagelcolombo.com
Trivia
* The romantic North West Suite is best when it comes to wanting a secluded location, a private garden and an outdoor plunge pool. Executive Suites are priced at US$ 200++ and the Superior Suite US$ 300++
* A stone’s throw away from the famous department store Odel. Tuk tuk service is free and available to other Paradise Road outlets where in-house guests can enjoy a 10 per cent discount on all retail purchases. About 30 km from the airport it takes an hour to get to this place.
Cuisine
* From the typical Sri Lankan to the International cuisine, it’s all well crafted and immaculately presented. The personalised set menus are provided with complimentary canapés and petit fours. And the Red Bar is the pick for glamorous pre-dinner drinks.
Veejay Sai is a freelancer living in Bangalore. He may be contacted at veejaysai.vs@gmail.com. Nimish Jain is a lifestyle and fashion photographer from Bangalore.
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