When you have family all over the world, gatherings become very precious – they only take place once in a while and usually numerous scheduling hurdles have been overcome. So when they do happen, it doesn’t hurt to go all out. This resort-inspired home, set in the surf destination of Uluwatu, Bali, was built for that exact purpose: to provide a dedicated setting for once-in-a-blue-moon family reunions.
“The client’s brief was to provide a vacation home for their parents, siblings and their families as a place for them to congregate, as they are spread out globally,” says architect Philip Olmesdahl, director of SAOTA, the South Africa-based architecture firm enlisted to design the house. “The design takes advantage of the clifftop location and views. A seamless indoor-outdoor connection was also important to the client.”
An entryway lined with palm trees offers a dramatic welcome, followed by a grand staircase punctuated by a cascading water fountain. Perched by the edge of a limestone cliff, the house itself is spread out across the site. Six private suites, each with its own courtyard, are separate from the common spaces, which include the lounge, dining room and covered terrace, located within the centralised entrance area. From here, radiating outwards are the courtyards, gardens and private bedroom pavilions. Spacious rooms, many of them opening out to million-dollar views of the ocean, feature high ceilings that further enlarge the sense of volume within the rooms. A patio, complete with an infinity pool, shares these beguiling views.
Meanwhile, the various outdoor spaces are beautifully landscaped and dotted with palm trees. Designed to accommodate as much of the outdoors as possible, the home opens in and out of covered areas and open spaces. Transitioning from the bedroom suites to the common areas, for example, requires weaving indoors and out.
According to SAOTA, the scale of the site made it possible to accommodate the house’s fragmented, resort-inspired layout. This allows it to take on a chameleon-like quality, creating flexibility for the family – the house “expands” and “shrinks” to accommodate both large and small groups of people, while at the same time offering a sense of intimacy within the space, regardless of the number of guests.
Inside, the interiors are rich with material character and textures. The cigar lounge and the area behind the bar are outfitted with decorative metalwork, while timber touches feature across the space. Massive windows – and wide openings – easily fill the room with natural light. An earth-inspired palette, occasionally enlivened by pastel pops, permeates the interiors, elegant in its minimalism and furnishings curated by Singapore-based P5.
“We wanted to curate furniture pieces that would communicate the essence of the home – modern and contemporary, with meticulous material selection, be grand yet understated,” says Ann Lee, general manager of the designer furniture store. “It was also important that the furniture collection seamlessly matched the overall architecture and kept the spirit of the design intent.” Such pieces include Patricia Urquiola’s Mesh outdoor furniture collection for Kettal, reclining chairs by Paola Lenti, lighting by Flos and Estudio Campana, a mirror by Philippe Starck, and vintage Gio Ponti armchairs and cabinets – a thoughtful mix of contemporary and classic pieces.
All throughout, the luxurious resort-style home provides a more-than-ample setting for the family’s get-togethers – it’s both backdrop and participant, a setting for memories as well as an active part of the memory-making. While planning and scheduling for reunions will always be difficult when living in different countries, at least there’s now one less thing to worry about, with the accommodations sorted – and one more thing to look forward to.
“The client loves the relaxed indoor-outdoor feel and the varying spaces that evoke a sense of intimacy, even though it’s a large villa,” says Philip. That, with the infinity pool, the people around and the horizon beyond means there’s better place to call home.
Photography: Adam Letcha
