Beautiful Villa Takun | Unearthing Malaysia’s Architectural Gem with Mediterranean Inspiration
Located approximately 22 km north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia lies a hill named Templer Park, home to diverse flora and fauna. The rainforest vegetation includes various rare species of plants, such as the critically endangered Borneo camphor tree, also known as the Crown Shyness. It also homes various species of wildlife like the park monkeys, woodpeckers, and dragon lizards. The park is surrounded by dense rainforests, limestone hills, waterfalls, and clear streams, offering a peaceful and refreshing environment.
Today’s episode on Design Seed, we will be sharing a property that looks mediocre on the outside but holds eight bedrooms and ten bathrooms, with a fascinating interior that looks like this.
What caught my attention to feature this project is the movement and intention by the owners to maintain the existing structure for such a huge change of concept and still being able to achieve such an alluring outcome.
Joewel, the founder of IO Home, has a familiar reputation for turning old and abandoned homes into a signature homestay—combining the essence of local culture and luxurious style to bring a unique experience with homestay locations, which are enhanced with a panoramic view of each distinct location.
“Hi, I’m Joewel. I’m the founder of IO Home.”
“IO Home has been established for around five years. We have a few projects under IO Home now, which we expanded to different locations. So, we build projects adapting to the surroundings.”
“In Templer Park, there’s a very phenomenal landmark, which is the limestone hill named Takun. That’s why we came up with the name inspired by the limestone hill, which is Villa Takun,” shared Joewel.
The eight-bedroom property has a fairly segregated floor plan due to the fact that it was an extension to an existing old building. Including the extended annex of the new extension, Villa Takun now houses:
- An outdoor verandah
- A hobby room
- A functional kitchen adjacent to a café bar
- The Villa Takun Hall
- A swimming pool
- A spacious and cozy living hall
- A by-appointment-only private dining restaurant
All eight bedrooms are embellished in the same design concept and focal orientation of the picturesque view of nature, yet each has a fairly distinctive appeal.
Anak Takun is one of the bigger rooms facing the Takun Mountain, with an outdoor bathtub.
Pampas and Dandelion, best suited for young couples, comes with an outdoor audacious catamaran trampoline.
“The Pampas and Dandelion actually stand for freedom. As a plant itself, when the wind blows, it symbolizes freedom,” shares Joewel.
Atibaia, the room that has the best curved landscape view.
“Atibaia is inspired by a Hindu Goddess, and we thought of dedicating this to the Goddess,” shared Joewel.
My favorite room will be the Serenity Room. It comes with a raised-up platform bed, in one of the biggest rooms facing the mountain. One of its features are an outdoor bath but with a hidden door entrance to an additional rain shower bathroom.
Do you notice what makes the interior design look particularly enticing and fairly different from the usual homes we see on a daily basis?
The answer lies in the wall and floor finishes.
What we commonly have for floor finishes are conventionally, tiles and timber flooring. This design concept uses a sporadic material made out of lime-based plaster.
So, what is lime paint?
Lime paint by Vasari Malaysia is a mineral paint made with natural lime and marble dust. It is environmentally friendly, healthy, and its appearance improves in time.
With modern-day technology and given the right workmanship, Vasari plaster can be applied directly on tiles, covering any seams of grout lines, allowing the application to be placed right over existing tiles.
“Vasari is a natural lime plaster where it coats the wall with natural substances derived from limestone. Every corner of Villa Takun is coated with Vasari lime paint, which is natural.
The benefit of using Vasari is that it is healthy for everyone simply because it has low odor, contains no chemical substances, and carries antibacterial elements. After the renovation, you will not experience the chemical smell commonly found in painted surfaces,” explained Joewel.
Joewel said, “Venetian plaster lime actually originated from Italy. This product was first introduced 2,000 years ago, where limestone was used as part of their paint coatings for walls.
It has been proven that most of the ancient cities’ wall colors have been preserved due to the Venetian lime plaster. It is natural and has been proven to be long-lasting.”
The Challenges of Building Villa Takun
“Villa Takun is actually refurbished from an old house, which came with many restrictions on the layout. For instance, the swimming pool could not be built too large due to limitations on the property’s structure. Even when we wanted sunlight to penetrate certain areas, we had to decide what walls were to be hacked off and what areas needed to be retained.”
“So, the biggest challenge, I would say, was the general layout left from the old house and how Villa Takun would function as a general staycation for everybody,” explained Joewel.
“One of the ideas behind Villa Takun is that we travel around the world and get inspired by different staycations. Each of these stays is warmly welcomed by the locals worldwide. I thought this should be a standard for our new staycation concept in Malaysia. Villa Takun is inspired by minimalism with Wabi-Sabi elements inside.”
I’m not too certain if I would call it a Wabi-Sabi concept, but probably more of a Mediterranean design.
Mediterranean Design
Mediterranean design, also known as Mediterranean Revival or Spanish Revival, is a style of architecture and interior design that draws inspiration from the countries and cultures surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, such as Spain, Italy, Greece, and Morocco.
Mediterranean interiors often feature architectural details such as exposed wooden beams, arches and stucco walls. These elements reflect the region’s rich architectural heritage and add character to the space.
The design aims to create light-filled interiors that capture the essence of coastal living, which suits very well in our tropical weather. Large windows, French doors, and open floor plans allow ample natural light to flood into the space. The overall effect is a warm, inviting, and often luxurious space that evokes a relaxed atmosphere, perfectly suited for Asia’s tropical climate.
I may be wrong, but do share your comments in the comment section below and let us know what you think! Villa Takun is launching to the public soon! You can check out their website here.
Book your stay today and get to know our humbled city of Malaysia, which we call home. Villa Takun is an exciting and experimental getaway, a close-to-the-city retreat that reminds us of living in harmony with nature. Let us know if you would like to visit!
For more scenic and unique stays, check out this amazing hidden 100 year old tower in Italy!
Thank you for taking the time to read this Article. Stay tuned for more updates!
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