Lunuganga Estate is the country house of renowned Sri Lankan architect Jeffrey Bawa. The estate was used as a cinnamon plantation during the Dutch period and later as a rubber plantation under the British. In 1948 the small house on the estate was leased to a local tax collector. In 1949, newly qualified legal lawyer Jeffrey Bawa bought it from the owner to turn the estate bungalow into a weekend home and create a tropical version of a European Renaissance garden.
[envira-gallery id=”4575″]The 6.1-hectare land is located on the banks of Lake Dedua in Bentota. The Bawa estate was named Lunuganga, which means salt river in Sinhala. Realizing that he had no architectural knowledge, Bawa returned to England to study architecture. After qualifying as an architect, he returned to Ceylon in 1958 and joined the architecture of Edwards, Reid, and Beggs. Until his death in May 2003, he developed the home and garden of Buna Lunuganga for forty years. Bawa was cremated on Cinnamon Mountain and the ashes were buried.
