Braemar was the principal adulthood home of

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...

, former

President of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...

. Jayewardene and his wife Elina built it in 1938 located Ward Place,

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. The original house built by Gilbert Leonard Rupasinghe, a Notary Public and a successful businessmen, named it Braemar after

Braemar Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee sitting at an elevation of . The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' prop ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Rupasinghe was the father of Jayewardene's wife Elina Bandara Rupasinghe. When the Jayewardene and Elina married in 1935, they moved into Jayewardene's parents house,

Vaijantha Vaijantha, was the childhood home of J. R. Jayewardene former President of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Today it houses the J.R. Jayewardene Centre It was built by Jayewardene's father Hon. Justice Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene KC, a Chief Ju ...

. In 1938, the couple demolished old Braemar and in its grounds they built their new house which retained the name ''Braemar''. Moving into it soon after, it was their home until the deaths of J. R. Jayewardene and Elina. Even during his tenure as Prime Minister and President, Jayewardenes remained at Braemar using

President's House, Colombo President's House is the official residence and workplace of the President of Sri Lanka, located at Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Since 1804 it had been the residence of British Governors and Governors-General and was known as the ...

only for official functions. The house and its land was gifted to the Inland Revenue Department by President Jayewardene in lieu of tax with the request for the house to be used by the Institute of Fundamental Studies. In 1985, Jayewardene amended the deed of gift stating it should be given to the Department of Archaeology with the objective of creating a museum and called for and exhibit on the Rupasinghe family. The deed was amended in 1993, including the Inland Revenue Department and adding the final recipient as the J. R. Jayewardene Centre. J. R. Jayewardene and Elina Jayewardene retained life interest until their deaths. The property is currently owned by the J. R. Jayewardene Centre.

References

Houses in Colombo J. R. Jayewardene {{SriLanka-struct-stub

See also

References