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This quite extraordinary dwelling is one
of Bali’s newest and most opulent mansions, and yet the moment
you enter Villa Raja, it’s as if you’ve taken a time machine
back to Bali’s golden era of architecture. Tired of the
plethora of minimalist “Bali Zen” villas springing up across
the island, owners Ralph and Janet Hogan set out to turn back
the clock and create an architectural masterpiece to showcase
the myriad textures, styles, arts and crafts for which Bali is
so rightly famous.
Crafted by two of the island’s most
talented traditional builders, this is a structure of great
beauty with a timeless patina which weaves state of the art
technology into a fabulous fabric of antiquity. 400 year old
timbers, richly carved paneling, coral, pebbles, limestone,
marble and even re-cut Art Deco roof tiles decorate every
aspect of the building.
Beneath this dramatic exterior, new
buildings frame and stabilize an ancient 12 meter high
ironwood and teak “Jineng”, containing the ground floor media
room (complete with giant cinema screen and foundation-shaking
Yamaha sound system.) Upstairs, an unforgettable master
bedroom, with soaring 6 meter ceilings and sweeping views of
the surrounding rice paddies. The massive antique carved
bed-head frames a king size bed and was once a prestigious
house façade in Java. One visitor likens spending a night here
to “sleeping in the world’s sexiest art gallery,” with waxed,
black ironwood floors, massive teak beams and, wrapping around
the room, the unfolding saga of the Ramayana in beautiful,
softly lit Kamasan paintings.
The Healthiest Villa in Bali
After 20 years of tolerating wrenching gut problems, twisted
limbs from shonky architecture, lying awake to an insane
cacophony of flirting geckos and fighting rodents, or
sweltering in the heat while drowning in mosquito repellent,
the owners decided that some aspects of their villa would be
quintessentially un-Balinese.
Insect screens, (practically unknown in
Bali) protect all bedroom and bathroom windows at Villa Raja.
All rooms are air conditioned and supplied with fans as well.
The buildings have been built to Western safety design
standards so no shonky, wobbly steps, cracked paths or
dangerous shortcuts here.
A sophisticated advanced secondary
sewerage treatment system ensures that Villa Raja only
recycles clean, safe water back into the Balinese environment.
Kitchen staff have been trained in Western
standards of hygiene and prepare food in two impeccably clean
and modern kitchens (one for guests, one for kitchen staff)
but of course training is of little use in a country where an
ice block in your gin and tonic can put you on your back for a
week.
Water, water everywhere but not a drop
you’d drink
If there is one thing as synonymous with Bali as beauty, it’s
tourists laid down with Bali Belly. Bali’s water is decidedly
3rd world and everyone uses bottled water to drink, brush
teeth etc. But it’s pretty well impossible, if not financially
enviable, to wash food in bottled water, or shower and wash in
it, which is why the owners have installed a state of the art
water purification plant, again using the colloidal silver
filtration system, the world’s most effective water
purification technology (as used on the space shuttle.) Pure,
totally safe drinking water is piped to all showers, basins
etc in the house.
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