The Kandy House, also known as Amunugama Walawwa (Sinhala: අමුණුගම වලව්ව), is a star-class boutique hotel located in Gunnepana in Kandy District, Sri Lanka. The hotel has been established in an old manor house belonging to the Kandyan Period.
History
The initial phase of constructing the house occurred in the 18th century, resulting in a single-storey courtyard building situated on the north-sloping section of the site. Subsequently, in 1804, Ratwatte Adikaram, the king's chief minister, defied the royal prohibition and added an additional floor with a tiled roof (Robson & Sansoni, 2016). This alteration was designed to give the appearance of a single-storey house when approached from the main southern entrance. In the 19th century, a single-storey pavilion was introduced on the southern side, connecting with the upper level of the existing structure (Robson & Sansoni, 2016). Finally, in the early 21st century, architect Channa Daswatte transformed the entire composition into a boutique hotel (Robson & Sansoni, 2016).
The Building
Presently, the front pavilion exudes the characteristics of a typical 19th-century Porto-Sinhalese Walawwa, featuring a roof adorned with half-round clay tiles (known as Sinhala Ulu), a round-arched arcade embellished with pairs of engaged Tuscan columns, and a sequence of distinguished rooms (Robson & Sansoni, 2016). Connecting seamlessly to the upper balcony level of the older two-storey structure, a rear veranda establishes a direct link, with the rooms of the latter arranged around a double-height internal paved courtyard.
References
1) Robson, D.G. and Sansoni, D., 2016. The architectural heritage of Sri Lanka: measured drawings from the Anjalendran Studio.
Attribution
1) The Kandy House courtyard by Andrew Hall is licensed under the CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
2) The Kandy House swimming pool by Andrew Hall is licensed under the CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
