A Slice of Old Cambodia Meets Modern Comfort - Rare Traditional Khmer Home Now on the Market

“People often come to us and say, you know, I came to Cambodia, and I had in my mind how I was going to live in this tropical paradise. But when I got here, I found that what was available for me were condos and urban flats. And there was very little of the way of what I had in mind, a tropical garden and romantic sort of atmosphere,” explained Dr. Helen Jarvis.

Australian Dr Jarvis has documented and helped preserve Cambodia’s cultural heritage for over 25 years. She is an adviser to the Royal Government and was a recipient of the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award by the  International Association of Genocide Scholars.  

Helen and her partner, Allen Myers, who is a published writer in the Kingdom, have lived in Cambodia since the 1990s and built that exact slice of tropical paradise on the banks of the Mekong River.

When you step onto the lush property located in a tranquil setting in Chroy Changvar (there are three individual traditional Khmer wooden houses: Sarika, Tamarind, and Mango House), you feel instantly removed from the hustle and bustle of the city in the best possible way. 

In the context of preservation of Cambodian heritage and architecture as Phnom Penh expands outwards and upwards, their 2,600 square metre property features idyllic wooden Khmer houses accompanied by swimming pools, fruit trees and no through traffic.

The distinctive Sarika Khmer wooden house covers a generous 660 sqm plot, and the property includes 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. There is a 40 sqm open-plan living and kitchen area, as well as a shaded split-level terrace overlooking lush gardens, which is perfect for welcoming guests. The ground floor is a separate unit, containing an en suite bedroom and two smaller rooms, perfect for teenage kids or a home office, or guest/staff accommodation. That house has independent access. 

The National Agricultural College wraps around two sides of the whole property, which further adds to its charm, with its own gardens and fruit trees. 

From A Vision To Reality - Construction of the Wooden Houses

Allen explained, “When we first got here in 1998, it was very much a village, and it was rather remote. At the time, the bridge had been damaged during the war and had to be rebuilt. Mainly, people went across the bridge to go to restaurants along the highway and to visit the lake, which no longer exists. 

The area was almost like a weekend excursion from the city. When we first moved out, there was no electricity, no state water and very little infrastructure. Gradually, these things changed, which has increased livability - while retaining that original, peaceful charm.”

Chroy Chongvar has been a beneficiary of the economic and urban development mirrored across the country over the past three decades, but the area around the property has managed to retain an element of being an oasis from the surrounding development. The sounds of insects and birds and the calm breeze off the nearby river all quickly remind you of that. 

Helen said, “We bought the first part of the property in 1998 together with our Australian friends Peter Arfanis and Rosanna Barbero, designing and building the first house. Allen and I then followed on with Sarika in early 2003, and the other two, Tamarind and Mango, in 2005. All of the houses were designed and named after their nearby existing trees. We bought the property consciously because there were many mature trees, and we designed the houses so each one is quite distinct in its shape.”

Over time, a modern evolution of the property has seen amenities such as air conditioning and fibre optic internet installed. It's the perfect partnership of modern comforts and traditional nostalgia. 

“We estimate it's usually about 5 degrees cooler out here because of nature and the river. We get a lot of birds on the riverbank; we've got beautiful birds, unusual birds, and sometimes well-known birds like kingfishers,” she added, while recalling that at the time they first moved there, it was the days of dancing restaurants and cows and buffaloes in the village, while there was a small plantation of papaya. 

The new bridges, ongoing infrastructure development, the addition of nearby schools, shops, cafes, and hospitals have made the location a prime living area due to the rapid growth.

But what was the vision for these majestic wooden houses?

They reminisced, “We didn't employ a practising architect, but we had a friend who was trained as an architect who was doing some IT work for Qantas. He sketched what our original house might look like from the outside. That was the closest thing that we had to a plan. The chief builder made a little model out of matchsticks and bamboo, to somewhat guide the construction team, who were all Cambodians.”

At the time, there were two small huts on the first piece of the land when they purchased it. On one of them, they even found beautiful Spanish tiles on the floor. Where did they come from? They have no idea.

On the properties, there is much to admire about the wooden design. The beautiful carved panels on the doors are just one detail. 

“Students from the Royal University of Fine Arts carved those. In fact, all the universities that have any architecture and design courses have been sending their students out to have a look at our wooden homes. It's kind of ironic that they are studying Khmer traditional wooden houses, and they come to one that was inspired by Khmer architecture but designed by foreigners. But they all say nostalgically as soon as they walk in, ‘This is like my grandmother's house.’

The shape of the bannisters and the handrailings features hexagonal knobs, and the frills around the roof gables were designed by the builders themselves, the craftsmen who brought the model to life-size reality. 

“We changed the orientation of the living area so that it gave a bit of fluidity to the design. We spent a lot of time going around old wooden houses in the country, reading books and trying to incorporate as many of the proportions as possible. All the doors and windows were made on-site as the house was being built.

We eventually installed solar panels on all of the houses, not to run the whole place, but it's enough to run fans and lights if the power goes off.”

Preserving Cambodian Heritage

They added that they didn't want to go and buy a wooden house and encourage somebody to sell their house, as they wanted such properties to be preserved. “We felt sad every time we saw an old house being torn down. But when we knew that the sales of those properties were inevitable or were to be torn down, we were able to pick up some pieces and certainly some ideas.” 

The roof dragon scale tiles were hard to purchase and even more so now compared to the modern ones.“They have a certain charm and a certain look that you can't get with the high gloss look of the new tiles”, Helen commented. “The angle of the roof is not a standard normal Western roof angle. It is at a higher pitch, and there are no ceilings, so that you look through the rafters to the underside of the tiles, which gives a lot of natural airflow.”

The stilted wooden houses were also built with some ground rules from the outset. No aluminium, no glass, and no paint. The houses were designed and finished in a local soft reddish wood, but there are mixtures of other local wood to ensure the outside timbers are all-weather resistant.

The swimming pool by Sarika Khmer wooden house sits in the shade of the flowering trees, offering a perfect, refreshing break on the property. Allen explained, “When we built the pool in the early 2000s, there were not very many in Phnom Penh. The tiles are mainly stone tiles, which were also hard to come by.”

Steeped in Culture

Aside from incorporating Khmer construction techniques and preserving the wooden type of architecture, the properties have become cultural beacons themselves.

Over the years, Khmer Mekong Films has used the properties as a film location for several productions. It's been used as a backdrop for weddings and pre-wedding shoots, and renowned Chef Nak, internationally recognised for preserving, elevating and sharing royal and rural Cambodian cuisines, launched her project when she was living in Sarika.

Musically, the popular defunct band Cambodian Space Project performed their second concert on the “Spanish Steps” of Mango House, and Khmer Magic Music Bus have also performed there.

The properties have also been featured in the second edition of the much-admired Cambodian Wooden Houses by Darryl Collins and Hok Sokol. In the lead-up to the annual Water Festival, the local wats are hives of activity, preparing and launching the dragon boats, training crews, and renovating the floats.

The wooden houses are steeped in a blend of culinary, artistic and architectural history. Helen concluded by saying, “I think one thing that people find unusual is the extent of open screens and open areas. They're not just windows as such, but there are whole areas of the walls in each house that are just floor-to-ceiling screen lattice, so you can see through to the garden.”

While the property sits on the outskirts of the city within a safe, rural village atmosphere, it is only a 20-minute drive from Phnom Penh’s riverside precinct.

As the surrounding area has become increasingly residential, the property is conveniently located just 10–12 minutes from the highly regarded Sunrise Japan Hospital Phnom Penh, schools and only a few minutes from popular food and beverage brands such as Brown Coffee, Paris Bakery, Eric Kayser, and multiple supermarkets.

The property reflects traditional Khmer wooden house principles adapted for modern use, with a strong focus on natural materials, airflow, and integration with nature.

Flexible Ownership Options

The property presents a rare opportunity for buyers seeking a unique lifestyle residence, boutique hospitality venture, or future investment.

Available as either the entire estate or as separate properties to suit a range of ownership objectives. While currently held under a single hard title, the estate's layout provides flexibility for buyers seeking either the entire estate or a standalone acquisition opportunity, such as Sarika House.

The property is configured in a way that supports straightforward title separation. The full estate is ideally suited to a boutique hotel, wellness retreat, cultural venue, or hospitality business. Or several attractive opportunities for private living, a boutique hospitality concept, or a smaller-scale accommodation venture.

The property can be purchased by Cambodian buyers directly, while foreign buyers may acquire the property through Cambodia's regulated trust framework.

To arrange a private viewing, or to learn more about the property, you can explore Sarika House here or view the entire estate here.