History of Adisham Bunglow

Sir Thomas Lister Villiers gained his education at Sherborne School. After completing his studies he chose to come to Ceylon as a trainee on Elbedde Estate, Bogawantalawa. Thus, a young man with just 10 pounds in his pocket began building his life here in Ceylon. In 1896 Thomas Villiers married Evelyn Hope, a daughter of the planter W. H. Walker of Punduloya North. The wedding took place at the Holy Trinity Church, Nuwara Eliya. Evelyn Hope was a keen painter and her paintings decorate Adisham walls even at present. She gave birth to their first son lieutenant Henry Lister Villiers in 1897, who was later killed in action on 4th February 1917. Their second son was commander Thomas Hyde Villiers who was born on 15th January 1902 and died in 1955


The house was designed in the Tudor style, on the lines of Leeds Castle in Kent, with stout granite walls of locally quarried stone, long, narrow turret windows and chimneys. It looked in every detail an Elizabethan country mansion flowing in the memories of Sir Thomas Villiers’ well loved home in Kent and his childhood memories. The house gave an onlooker a sense solidity, permanence and stability.
Sir Thomas Villiers spared no expense to ensure that his country home was luxurious in its appointments. The roof was covered with flat Burma teak shingles.  The doors, windows, paneling, staircase and floors were also of Burma teak. The spacious rooms of the house contain handsome fireplaces to keep the inhabitants warm. The wind turbines fixed on the roof sent cold wind down to the fire places amazingly heating up the room. The regency clock though it has stopped ticking stands in splendor on the mantelpiece of the fireplace with its gleaming fire irons.
These steps pave way to the elaborate pillared landing on the main staircase adorned by portraits of his relatives, the Clarendons and the Dukes of Bedford. The four stout English oaks add grandeur to the house. It is said that Indian masons were brought down and employed to do the stone work of the building.