Villa Tao

Two antique Javanese gladak houses, around two hundred years old, crown Villa Tao, rebuilt as bedroom suites high above the black sand of Balian Beach. Below them the villa steps down a palm-covered slope on Bali’s west coast in Tabanan, so almost every room looks out over the Indian Ocean and the long lines of surf rolling in towards the shore.

The heart of the house is an airy, semi-open middle level of dark stone and timber, with a sunken lounge wrapped in a deep sofa, a second sitting area and a long wooden table seating ten beside a modern kitchen. Steps lead down to a fourteen-metre infinity pool along the edge of the property, ringed with cushioned loungers and a round daybed, its surface seeming to merge with the sea. Up top, a covered roof deck catches the sunset, and a media room handles movie nights.

Balian is a world removed from Bali’s busy south: a quiet fishing village known for its reef and river-mouth breaks, black-sand walks and rice fields running down to the coast. Surfers can paddle out each morning, while day trips lead up into the hills around Pupuan for coffee plantations and waterfalls, or out to watch the local buffalo races. A full team of staff, including a chef, looks after the house, and breakfast is included.