The Brief is a remarkable garden of great style, charm and peace, set in the hills behind the town of Bentota, on the South West coast of Sri Lanka. It was created by Bevis Bawa, a celebrated artist and garden designer, and the brother of Geoffrey Bawaa, Sri Lanka's greatest architect.



Somerset Maugham described the Brief thus: “The house is a series of rambling courtyards, patios, loggias and terraces and filled with furniture – old and new indigenous and exotic – all blending together to make it one off the loveliest houses in the East.” He went on: “The harmony of the garden at Brief is unexpected because, as Bevis explains it, it consists of several small gardens – thought out by him in various moods and at various times during its growth over the last forty years. The result is a climax of loveliness, a proclamation that nature can triumph over the hideous inventions of mankind.” I couldn't agree more.



The unusual name is often described as being from a successful court case won by his father, which paid for the original estate. However, Bevis himself had a different explanation: "....a novelist who was a favourite of mine had named three country mansions ‘Vantage’, ‘Usage’ and ‘Brief’, which tickled my fancy. The first sounded as if I had taken advantage. Usage sounded awfully like a brothel. So therefore, it had to be ‘Brief’, and still is.”





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