Villa Alamanda is entered via a paved courtyard and parking area. On one side is a Balinese gateway with the steps leading down into the garden and on the other is a water tower, which deserves a mention due to the whimsical carvings of flowers, dragonflies and birds, which adorn its soft yellow sandstone walls.

Immediately in front of the parking area is the main single-storey building, accessed via a set of antique doors. From here, guests step into a timber-floored hallway extending onto an open-air T-shaped wooden terrace. Furnished with antiques and daybeds, this breezy living and dining area is flanked by three of the villa’s four air-conditioned bedrooms. A dining table for eight is positioned on the stem of the ‘T’, overlooking the tumbling back garden.

The bedrooms at Alamanda are furnished with king-sized beds and antiques, and accessorised with bell jar lanterns, Indonesian artefacts, and classical artwork. The Red bedroom and the Cinnamon bedroom each have open-air ensuite bathrooms with showers and bathtubs surrounded by walls and leafy shrubs. The square-shaped master bedroom is slightly larger with a vaulted roof that soars to a central peak. From here, louvre doors lead into a dressing room, while glassless windows in the ensuite marble bathroom (complete with bathtub and shower) swing open, stable-door style. The fourth bedroom – the Garden Suite – is housed within a separate thatched pavilion. It has its own private entrance door and doubles as an air-conditioned TV lounge, equipped with a TV and DVD player, movies, books, a sofa and a king-size bed. The Garden Suite is appropriately complemented by a garden bathroom with a shower and a canopied bathtub.

A fully-equipped kitchen is positioned next to the Garden Suite and is entered from the car-parking area. Last but not least, the main garden, which rests at a lower level than the house, is filled with a profusion of flowering trees and shrubs. An ancient frangipani tree hangs over a tranquil swimming pool, while sunloungers and umbrellas rest on the stone pool deck alongside a large balé relaxation pavilion.