the colonial villa

Topping the highest point in the Keliki estate is this classic two-room cottage, which Made Wijaya described in Architectural Digest as an “English colonial, tropical Malay bungalow.” With its own infinity-edge pool and a shady wraparound veranda overlooking the valley, it offers fabulous views and an almost majestic sense of seclusion. The main entrance opens to a sitting room with a coffered ceiling in pale, pickled timber and a fretwork frieze of ventilation panels, hung with a large antique chandelier. Vertical shutters line the three exposed sides of the room, which can be opened to bring the outside indoors. A writing desk is tucked into a cozy nook between the

sitting room and a dressing room large enough to accommodate a love seat. The bedroom is a cool retreat, a polyphony of polished woods with an antique four-poster bed, sumptuously spread with fine-woven combed cotton sheets and textile throws from the eastern islands of the archipelago.

The Colonial Villa is a completely self-sufficient residence, with a view dominated by the monumental Master Suite on the opposite side of the gorge. The volcanic stone terrace around the pool ends in a traditional bale, a thatched pavilion furnished with a period lounge, marbletop table, chair, and reading lamp, which makes it an inviting private retreat day or night. The sublime views from the Colonial Villa give visitors the sense of being totally immersed in wilderness, which they are … almost. The hill behind the house is covered by a lush patchwork carpet of paddy fields, presided over by a flock of idly wandering geese; in the distance, the edge of a village is just visible, a welcome human presence in the heart of this rugged wilderness.