10-29-05

YIPEEEEEE! We found our house today. Actually, I saw it yesterday and arranged to see it again today with Ron since he wasn’t due in until 5:00 yesterday. It is so great. It is brand new, and adjoins the owner’s house which is very common here. Veena is probably about 40 ish and is a Muslim, according to our realtor. She has had a direct hand decorating the place and has done an excellent job. The house is on a quiet lane. Since the street is poorly maintained, no one will be using it as a short cut to another street. You have to drive very slowly on our street.

The house has three floors. The first floor has a very tiny servant’s quarters (small sleeping room with sink and separate room with toilet and shower). This is standard in all houses here. In addition, there is a large living area with room for dining, an area called a pantry which is like a serving area for food with cabinetry and a sink. The actual cooking space is across the hall. Most places that come unfurnished have no refrigerator and no stove. Both will be provided here. The kitchen has some attractive tile work behind the counters. Again there are lots of cabinets and another sink.

There is also a guest bedroom and a bathroom with beautiful tile work. The foyer has an atrium with lovely plants thriving in the light well that goes clear to the third floor. Veena created a focal point by creating a wall collage using left over bits of tile that had been part of the construction materials.

Entering the second floor is another pantry-serving area if you wanted tea or coffee or other drinks. The large master suite with bath is on one side of the house with a small balcony and there are two bedrooms and a bath on the other side. The pantry area separates the two sleeping areas. Going to the third floor there is another bedroom, a laundry room and another bathroom. But the greatest thing on the third floor is the roof top garden, a grass floor with planters filled with lovely blooming plants, many of which I’ve never seen. Incredible. To your left is Veena’s roof top, in front of you is a view of Colombo. There’s a spiral staircase for the gardener to service the area. So far, Veena has been the gardener.

Each bathroom has beautiful tile, each one different. All the bathrooms have showers and there are no bathtubs. If you know me well, you will know that this is a big sacrifice for me as I like to relax in the tub nightly before going to bed. But heck, last year I gave up butter so I figured this year it would be tub baths. Given the other five houses I looked oat, this is the best option. Many of the bathrooms were scary given either the conditionor the choice of tile. Some of the tile was almost day-glo. Yikes!

The other really cool thing Veena has done is paint the two solar water tanks that sit on top of the house. They are black with great mask like faces on them. When we move it, we’ll include photos. All the floors are a light gray/taupe tile. I couldn’t keep up with which rooms would be air conditioned but I think most of the bedrooms will be. Overhead fans are essential in this climate and very effective. I forgot to check and see how many rooms had fans. The house is brand new and construction should be finished within two weeks. Keep your fingers crossed as I am getting tired of restaurant food.

We had to do a bit of negotiating as her rent was higher than our allowance from ICMA. She seemed eager to have us and came down on the rent. In Sri Lanka landlords ask for a year’s rent in advance. I’m not sure how people do that but we told her ICMA would pay her three months, then the balance. She agreed to those terms also. I was thrilled to get this house and am very eager to get everything settled. After a contract is drawn up, we have to send it to D.C. to get approval. After it is signed, Veena said we could store stuff at the house while construction is wrapping up. Keep in mind we brought nothing in the way of furnishings with us so I get to do a lot of shopping once the contract is signed.

We spent the afternoon going to various stores to get a feel for what is available and the costs. Some things surprised us in terms of cost. But we are looking at antique shops and interiors shops. I am excited about what is available. We popped into Odels which is a great department store here. I had visited it earlier in the week but Ron had never been. Before we got out of there he bought 2 leather belts, three short sleeve cotton shirts and one polo shirt. His bill was a whopping $45.00!

Tomorrow we are going to check out the want ads for furniture and grab our favorite three wheel driver and go searching for used furniture. Don’t know if some of those ads are ex pats who are returning from whence they came.


It’s Sunday and the used furniture idea was a bust. We went to several furniture stores and saw some really ugly, cheap furniture and some not so bad. More research, but we have time.