Doornberg is a truly beautiful house on a lovely site at the top of Richmond Hill. Its arcade has the lovely sweep of roof and minimum four pillars of the best Ceylon Dutch houses.
Sitting on an acre of lawn and gardens, Doornberg offers a 180-degree panorama with views of the UNESCO-heritage Galle Fort and the Indian Ocean beyond. The house was built in 1712 for a retired Dutch Admiral formerly from Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies which today is Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.
In July 1814, following the Asian landing of the Wesleyn Missionaries in Galle, the first school in Ceylon, as well as the first school in Asia, was established at Doornberg, known as the Galle School, residing within the Walauwwa premises of Mudaliyár Nicholas Dias Abeysinghe Amarasekera. The first five students were the Mudaliyár, his sons and a nephew.
The Galle school rapidly expanded moving to larger premises within the Galle Fort, and eventually to Seymour Hill where it was renamed Richmond College in 1882.In the following years, under the auspices of the Anglican church, Doornberg functioned as a boy’s orphanage and was at times the residence of the Anglican Arch Deacon of the Southern Province of Sri Lanka.
In the early 2000s the house underwent a reconstruction led by the highly recognised Sri Lankan architect Channa Daswatte, a protégé of Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka’s most prolific and influential architect.
Doornberg operated as a home and private hotel from 2002 in which time it hosted many illustrious visitors from the international worlds of politics and literature.
The entrance stone bears the markings Doornberg 1712. Four Palladio columns support the front verandah protecting the door frame. Adjacent window shutters feature the elegant, moulded woodwork characteristic of the early 17th century.
A six-meter-high formal entrance gallery leads to the great room which is the principal living space and centre of the building. The flanking bedrooms preserve the original symmetry of the house.
Pillared columns support the deep internal verandahs which open to a grassed courtyard, shaded by an imposing Rose Apple tree in the centre. The roof is steeply pitched and clad in the original terracotta from the period of the build.
The house contains four suites with independent garden access. Each suite features a reading lounge, restored netted Dutch bed, ceiling fan, monogrammed linen on custom-made 10-inch mattresses, and a large period bathroom with cast iron bath. The library offers views to the town and to the ocean beyond and includes a collection of local and international publications covering art and architecture.
Throughout the house there is a significant collection of contemporary art, featuring pieces commissioned from Sri Lankan artists and multi-disciplinary works from Chinese and Australian artists.
Extensive lawns bordered by indigenous plantings lead to a secluded pool area, hidden from the house. The 16-metre length pool is set against a dominating mango tree and the verdant jungle surrounds.