At Palatota, in a little inland, is Richmond Castle, a fine country house in a 42-acre fruit garden estate. Built in 1896, it originally belonged to landowner turned philanthropist NDA Silva Wijayasinghe, the local Padikara Mudaliyar (village leader) & was used during the British period as a circuit bungalow for officials. This magnificent hybrid of Indian & British architecture was originally a spice plantation mansion, built for the Padikara Mudaliyar, a wealthy regional governor, who copied the plans of an Indian Maharaja's palace designed by a London architect. Note the audience hall, with intricately carved pillars & beams (two shiploads of teak were brought from Burma for its construction) & a spiral staircase leading to a gallery of some fascinating photographs from the time. The house & grounds are open to the public. It makes a good canoeing or bike track with riverside picnic.
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Visitors Most Rated Property of the Sri Lanka ..
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