Donald Friend, Kandy Perehera (mural) | Image courtesy Juliet Coombe

Peter Pan’s ‘Neverland’ exists, Bevis Bawa came close to creating it with Brief Garden, which in many ways can be described as a true tropical utopia. A delightful cornucopia of different artistic endeavours seamlessly merging the architecture of the house with the stunning surrounding nature, Brief Garden leaves one mesmerized whatever time of the year you visit, even during the monsoon downpours, when the moody clouds and swirling rainy season further enhance its enigma of different vignettes of gardens inspired from Bevis’ travels in Europe, and Asia. These sojourns are reflected in his two Japanese pagodas between a small pond and seating area, the stunning Italian water terrace with cascading ponds, Greek style amphitheatre and English style croquet lawn. Notably, the entrance to Brief sets the scene with two sculptures on either side of the main gate designed by Australian artist, Donald Friend and sculptured by Bevis Bawa, who was inspired by Friend’s enormous diversity of artistic talents. Framed by greenery - the gate guardians look back at us, daring all those who pass this space to leave their closed minds behind and enjoy the warm welcome of Brief.

A place where the main house and landscaped gardens merge with a mythical world of jungle creatures, rubber trees, various sculptures with enormous finger-like ferns, at Brief the plants
weave their way around a risqué male fountain and stepping stones with leaf impressions. A garden fountain using upcycled bottles with the hypnotic sound of trickling water tied in with the visitors’ bell reflects the machinations of this extraordinary dilettante and art conduit, Bevis Bawa. In an experimental haven for what was to become Sri Lanka’s most dynamic group of pioneering artists, many of whom were later adopted by his highly successful architectural brother, Geoffrey Bawa.

Brief since Bevis passed away, is run by Dooland de Silva, Bevis’ dearest friend, who is the guardian of this incredibly special place. One distinct feature is the striking of the mystical dining room gong, which fills the air with resonating spiritual music that takes you to another era altogether. A time when time did not matter and intellectual and artistic pursuits were far more important than making money. Bevis, unlike his younger brother Geoffrey, who was sent to England to study law, was dispatched to look after the family rubber plantations around Kalawila Village in Aluthgama. It was here that Bevis discovered his great love for garden design and experimenting with different tropical plants, bushes and according to Dooland, planted a staggering hundred and twenty varieties of trees, attracting a huge variety of birds to create an orchestra of music through the cascading sultry landscape, where one will discover different hidden spaces, sculptures, ponds with an otter statue, reflecting mirrors - all in an open air shower. Bevis, a lover of theatre and film not only brought drama to the landscape, but also played host to many celebrities who visited Sri Lanka, including ‘Gone With The Wind’ star Vivien Leigh, who he formed a great friendship with, Sir Laurence Olivier, the Duke of Windsor, and many famous writers. Although accused of Vivien Leigh’s breakdown over her unrequited love for him, the stunning truth, one learns, looking through the gallery of black and white framed photos in the dining room wall, is that she wanted to see a ‘devil dance’ exorcism and the bad spirit entered into her when it came out of the victim, causing her to collapse, so that she never actually finished making the film Elephant Walk.

Brief is full of extraordinary stories, erotic poetry, sculptures and paintings that
will both amuse and shock through the main dining room and long corridor to the Spanish garden inspired by Bevis’ trip to Alhambra in Spain. Realizing the importance of longevity, the artist gave away everything before the end of his life, as he knew the real secret to eternity is in one’s ideas being remembered and ideals being carried on, which, if passed on to future generations, can benefit everyone, through their wisdom and sharing, for which in Brief’s case - his incredible library of books and letters. Like a masterful theatre director, Bevis cleverly takes one through one doorway into another, never allowing one to leave nature behind in his alfresco-style bungalow with its many mini gardens, courtyards and porches.

Flame Lily | Image courtesy Juliet Coombe

Inspired by the jungle, he created his own style of landscaping unseen before in rubber plantation bungalow dwellings, using unique garden designs that were later adopted by his brother, Geoffrey Bawa, now considered one of the most influential architects of the 20th century. Bevis in many ways was both his brother Geoffrey’s inspiration and nemesis. Bevis is recognised as one of the island’s first landscape architects, despite serving as the Aide–de–camp to four governors of Ceylon. Bevis’ real passion was developing gardens of which he did a number of Colombo embassies, whilst also collecting and making art, that was considered in some cases both controversial and provocative.

Bequeathing his home and estate in September 1992, when he passed away to his charming and incredibly bright manager and ingénue landscape designer, Dooland de Silva remains deeply devoted to sharing his fifty years of experiences at Brief with all who visit. Bevis demonstrated his visionary outlook by building intergenerational thinking, as he very much thought about what the future could learn from their decades of experimental artistic work and designs that highlight the beauty of the natural world. Whether it was hand-etched terracotta tiles on the main verandah wall of the house by Bevis, Friend and, Barbara Sansoni or paintings with poems capturing his escapades, each of the artefacts are indicators of this astute, deeply creative, philosophical thinking. Dooland says, as he shows people around Bevis’ house and gardens, that inheriting the space was an incredible honour for him, after many fascinating years of working for Bevis, who he says was also a prolific reader and incredibly kind man. Dooland learnt many things from him including the importance of studying the seasons and planting on the day of the full moon when the nutrients of the earth are drawn to the surface, and the seeds have the greatest chance to germinate. Over time, Dooland became an incredible garden architectural guru in his own right, and, seeing his raw talents, Geoffrey Bawa appointed him to work on one of his most exciting hotel projects, Kandalama. His mission was to reveal the mystique of the ancient rocks of Dambulla. Dooland responded to the challenge by clearing the plants and weeds around the ancient boulders so they become integral to the cave-like entrance to the hotel. He also incorporated Geoffrey Bawa’s Dambulla masterpiece behind a cascading veil of
jungle creepers so the building was fully camouflaged.

Dooland’s eyes sparkle when he talks about Bevis and his love of life and how his sense of amusement or the unexpected brought about new ideas, as he wanted to both surprise and make people feel at peace with all the elements, to enjoy each phase of the day, whatever the weather conditions may be. Each part of Brief is linked to nature, so cleverly that you often can’t see the dividing line between the garden and the house with its diverse collection of artworks including artist Laki Senanayake playing the flute. Luckily for all of us, Brief Garden will live on as Bevis’ legacy in Sri Lanka, from one generation to the next, for the sublime poetry of his artistic mind.