In 1719 the Dutch built a small fortalice on an island promontory, on the southern side of the Galle bay.

[1] They called the island Klossenburg[2] (or Kloffenburg), meaning 'fortalice or citadel on which the sea roars'.

[1] It wasn't until Captain Francis Bayley, the agent for the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, arrived in Galle aboard the steamer ‘Hindustan’ in 1859.

[4] Bayley's wife, Lucy Matilda née Atkinson,[6] was an artist, and decorated the house and gardens with a variety of ferns and blooms, sourced from various locations along the P&O trade route, from Calcutta to the Suez.

In 1965 the Abeywardena family home was converted into a hotel,[1] with the four main rooms adapted as guest bedrooms and the former bachelors’ quarters modified to become a kitchen.