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| By the time the Duff Estate Company Limited purchased the property in
1897 for the sum of £10,000/=, it had expanded to an extent of well over 1,000 acres. The
8- bedroom plantation house (now renamed "Pemberley" by the present owner to
make the connection of the Centre with Jane Austen studies, memorialized in a brass plaque
near the entrance) was originally built in 1876. A wide verandah that encircles the front
of the house was added in 1911. The present dining room and service pantry were further
additions made in 1948 to render the house more functional without destroying its 'period'
character. The same aim has inspired all later renovations: for example, the original
fire-places have been retained in the bedrooms, and the original staff quarters still
function today, linked to the main house by the covered stairway running along one side of
a paved courtyard. Dr. Brendon Gooneratne bought the property in 1996, and is its present owner. Dr. Gooneratne has renamed the bungalow "Pemberley House" which is now on a separate title with adjoining tea lands. |
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The Pemberley International Study Centre Dr. Gooneratne's plan to establish an International Study Centre on Viharagala Estate is the fulfillment of a promise made to his late father, Mr. William Gooneratne, in the 1970s, that when his children were settled in life he would give something back to the homeland which has given all Sri Lanka's students since Independence in 1948 the free education that had seen Dr. Gooneratne himself through Royal College, the University of Ceylon, and the Ceylon Medical College. The project, which combines provision of residential and research facilities for local and international scholars with access to an enriched education for talented Sri Lanka school students, is an ambitious one that is now entering upon its final stage. Stage One involved the comprehensive renovation of the main house, the entire re-planting with blue grass of the 6 lawns that surround it, together with the planned landscaping of the area as a whole. Stage Two saw the tapping of perennial underground springs on the estate to ensure a reliable year-round supply of pure and unpolluted water, the bringing from many kilometers away of 3-phase electricity to serve the property, the installation of solar heating and hot water, and the existing gardens supplemented with hundreds of trees and flowering shrubs. Stage Three involves the construction of the Centre's Library and Seminar room with further residential accommodation for 6 scholars. By July 2000, when the first invited scholars take up their residence at Pemberley with trained staff to look after their needs, equipment for their use including computers, printers, fax and photocopying machines, will have been installed.
The Pemberley Foundation The Pemberley Centre functions with the aid of two principal bodies (1) a Board of Trustees, and (2)An Advisory Board, the expertise of whose members is sought in assessing the quality and relevance of application for residencies at Pemberley.
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