3-Bedroom Boran House/ Private Pool

We found this 160-year old traditional Khmer house in the countryside, somewhere 50km from Siem Reap. With all our projects of rehabilitation-repurposing of Cambodian traditional houses, this one involved carefully taking apart the original structure, transportation to our site, new interior design & walling for better sound and temp insulation. In recognition to its old age and style, we call it- Boran House, meaning ‘Ancient House’ in Khmer. The space We found this 160-year old traditional Khmer house in the countryside near Damdek, somewhere 50 km from Siem Reap. The original configuration with a large balcony-verandah on the front has been respected. The elegant 3-tier roof and the quality of hardwood is a testimony of the richness of Cambodian architectural traditions in pre-colonial times. As with all our projects of rehabilitation-repurposing of Cambodian traditional houses, this one involved a) carefully taking apart the original structure, b) transportation to our site, c) new design adapted to hotel unit specification, replacement of damaged pieces, new interior walling for better sound and temp insulation. In recognition to its old age and style, we call it- Boran House, meaning ‘Ancient House’ in Khmer. The large adjacent private pool with its cascading waterfall can be privatized for Boran House This Villa is one of other few villas built in the same compound of big natural and tropical landscape created as a Khmer village Our philosophy: While Cambodian rural architecture has been extensively studied by leading researchers such as Madeleine Giteau in her Short Treatise on Modern Cambodian Architecture, 1971, and more recently the late Darryl Collins and architect Hok Sokol in their magnificent book Cambodian Wooden Houses; 1,500 Years of Khmer Architecture, 2022, the sad fact is that traditional housing has been disappearing at a too fast pace from the countryside and, obviously, from urban development. At Dontrei Villa, we love these houses. Because they tell us of the Cambodian past, of the cleverness and humility of the past generations. Because they are things of beauty, harmoniously blending into their natural environment – sit on the balcony of any of our houses and you’ll get the feeling. And because they are surprisingly adapted to modern life, with the wooden walls gently absorbing the day heat, and releasing it at dusk. In the last years, the movement for rescuing and rehabilitating traditional houses has become a powerful trend in Japan. The Koryoya, ‘good old houses’ in Japanese, are attracting investors, developers, and just lovers of a serene way of life, and demand is high, for instance on this website. Dontrei Villa founder and director Davy Chan, along with husband Ly and a team of carpenters, has rescued and repurposed some eight traditional houses since 2019. Gently dismantling these time-honored structures, moving them with care to our grounds, redesigning them while keeping their harmonious proportions, replacing damaged timber and rooftiles: this is a labor we undertake with our heart. Even for the new buildings, the Pond Villas, we used repurposed wood from traditional houses that were too small or too damaged to be recreated as such. We are proud to contribute to the preservation of Cambodian heritage, by giving a new life to these ancestral houses and allowing travelers to experience the feel of traditional countryside life while benefiting from the comfort of modern installations. Guest access Guest can access to our main swimming pool and restaurant surrounded by lush greenery garden and jungle trees Other things to note We offer a complimentary village tour by Jeep