Mr. Young’s house in the Colombo suburb of Battaramulla, for example, has a double-height living room that opens to a courtyard garden. High walls of rubble stone surround the garden and block the view of neighboring houses.
The 440-square-meter, or about 4,700-square-foot, two-level house has a living and dining area, a kitchen, three bedroom suites each with a bathroom and terrace, a staff apartment and a roofed pavilion for entertaining. The project, begun in 2005 and finished four years later, cost $120,000, or $270 per square meter. The land was an additional $25,000.