Many of the beautiful crafts in Bali are some form of carving (wood, bone, stone), which the island is famous for. After 4 trips to Bali, we decided to build a home there. The home was to be “Bali Style”, with lots of carving.

Our first problem was to specify what kinds of carving we wanted, so lacking experience otherwise, we took our camera everywhere to record the best examples we could find. Actually the best examples were right in our accommodations Puri Saraswati Bungalows, the Ubud Palace, and the Pura Saraswati Temple. Once we realized this, it was a simple matter to bring the artisans to the examples (of course they already knew what artistic elements were there).

The “Bali Wall” is the most distinctive with very bright red bricks (no mortar) as a background, then stacks of sandstone built up only to be chiseled away into designs. We have such a wall on our veranda, that took 12 workman a month to complete.

Carved teak doors and windows are another distinctive feature. Since the doors and shutters open inwards, we can enjoy the carvings all day long from inside the house. The carved wooden supports on the veranda are another feature. We chose natural finishes, as opposed to gold painted that we saw in the palace. The carved main door took 5 carvers a month to complete.

We just moved in and feel that the waiting (for carvers to finish) was worth it. We really “feel” the Balinese ambiance. There is no question as to where we are.

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