The great Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa (1919-2003), the father of Tropical Modernism, became famous for building high-end and intimate hotels all over the island in the 1980s and 1990s. His own house in the Bambalapitiya district is open to visitors. Period furniture, works of art and antiques feature in the various living spaces, the tree-lined patio and the terraces designed by the architect, all of which embody exquisite refinement.