Villa, Sri Lanka

WANDERLUST / Villa, Sri Lanka

On Sri Lanka’s southern coast, The Kip is a four-room villa dedicated to slowing down

In Sri Lanka, the abundance of raw materials leading back to nature creates an invisible connection that binds elements of purity and craft, cultural commodities and traditional techniques. In the midst of it all, the quiet fishing village of Ahangama makes the perfect nest for The Kip.

Evening light shines through jungle trees into the four-bedroom restored colonial villa, the golden sunlight accentuating objects that are simple in nature — the same things that create a balance of object against space, a sense of proportion and place. ‘We wanted to blend in with the landscape around us. If you’re in a natural environment, you should feel nature,’ says co-founder Phoebe Taylor.

There seems no better place to embrace the slower pace that The Kip embodies. ‘From a design perspective, anything is possible here in Sri Lanka. You have makers and raw materials at your fingertips. There are plenty of skilled artisans, but you need to have patience because production isn’t instantaneous,’ Taylor explains. ‘And more often than not, the end design is a bit different from what you wanted, but once you let go of your original idea, you allow yourself to embrace the design process as a whole.’

Before Taylor and her partner Seddy Di Francesco opened up The Kip to guests, they lived in the former fisherman’s house to get a feel for how the property worked functionally. It made them realise why spaces had been designed a certain way, and they tried to avoid modernising any of it. They’ve always seen the business as an extension of their own ethos, and every decision has been carefully thought through. ‘From the designs and process to materials and manufacturing, all the way to placement of objects in the rooms, everything serves a purpose,’ says Taylor. The result is that each room is slightly different, all based on Taylor’s own instinct.

The couple have poured their hearts and souls into the property, and it truly shows. ‘Every piece has a story. We’ve followed the processes and people behind every item. I can even tell you how each of the pieces was delivered,’ says Taylor, illustrating a philosophy that goes beyond aesthetics. Indeed, respect was an important factor throughout: respect for the surrounding nature, for local communities, for the original design of the property, for the hands that built everything, and for the traditional skills that have been passed down through generations.

The result is a design that isn’t defined by a stereotypical style. It’s an authentic portrayal of its founders’ values — humble and modest, yet portraying unwavering patience and attention to detail.

Previous page The Kip is an intimate four-room accommodation dedicated to the art of slowing down. Throughout the restoration process, owners Phoebe Taylor and Seddy Di Francesco took care to keep the colonial villa’s spaces as authentic as they found them Facing page and this page Furniture and design objects are beautifully simple and unpretentious, and each has a story, from the hands that created them to their final placement in the rooms and communal spaces. The aesthetic reflects slowness and the beachside locale