Sri Lanka luxury villa Tangalle - Beautiful holiday villa with pool in Sri Lanka

Our aims were simple; we wanted to build a big, beautiful, comfortable, family house with a pool on the best undeveloped beach in Sri Lanka. We found secret Mahawella 'big beach' with its golden sands and fishing boats, safe swimming and peace and decided we had found it. We finished building Thalassa in July 2008.It was designed by an experienced Sri Lankan architect, Amila de Mel, who had a great cv, which included Geoffrey Bawa team work and study in the UK and USA.

Views:Stunning sea views from the villa

Whale watching is a great success from Mirissa Harbour – about an hour away - sometimes you will see giant rays, dolphins, turtles and lots of pygmy blue whales which are about 6O feet long. It’s a beautiful three hour trip in a good big wooden boat. Turtles can be seen at night at Rekawa – about 20 minutes east of us – where there is a WWF protected beach where five out of seven of the world turtle species come to lay their eggs. There are several wildlife reserves not far away. Eating out locally is fun. You can walk down our beach to the left to Manuela at Surya Garden and have Italian food – Nandi can order in advance if you prefer. Further along is The Last House, a most elegant place designed by Geoffrey Bawa, where you can arrange to dine privately by previous discussions with the head houseboy, Ananda.

Rental notes: Rates for and availability of Thalassa vary, according to our plans and seasons. We like to rent and lend it and be there ourselves in equal proportions annually. Please understand that we require excellent references for anyone who rents it, because it is a treasured family house and not primarily a business venture.

There are seven double beds, which all have sea views, and seven en suite bathrooms, a huge sitting room with a piano, a big dining room, a great kitchen, a study with books and games and spacious staff quarters. We have used only Sri Lankan materials, furniture and fittings throughout the house, and were delighted to discover how luxurious these are, and often stunningly designed too. The furniture is a mix of state of the art - a vast stainless steel chandelier and barbecue - and genuine eclectic antiques. The Burmese teak floors in the two biggest downstairs bedrooms, the study and sitting room are recycled from a defunct ballroom in Nuwara Eliya, and the walkway has pillars from a collapsed South Indian temple.

Outside Area:There are really three gardens. The seaside garden is often windy and has 25 palm trees and a one-minute walk from the house to the beach. There are hammocks and loungers and built in benches along the front of the house and a croquet set and badminton net. The courtyard garden contains both pool and massage pavilion and is sheltered and the bougainvillea and hibiscus thrive here. The back garden is defined by the graveled driveway and the family dogs, cats and hens live out here too. Big shady trees abound in all of them.