18/06/2026
This video was filmed in 2018.
An old house.
An overgrown piece of land.
And a great deal of imagination.
When I watch these images today, I often wonder how many people would have seen nothing more than weeds, hard work and a neglected building.
Aruna had already owned the land for more than 30 years at that time.
Even after moving to Germany, the idea never really left him.
For years he collected inspiration.
Pinterest boards.
Ideas.
Tools.
Tiles.
Sinks.
Fabrics.
Things that probably looked like clutter to everyone else in his basement.
For him, they already belonged to a place that did not yet exist.
When the time finally came, everything was packed into a shipping container in Hamburg and sent to Sri Lanka.
The original plan was simple:
Spend six months building something here.
Return to Germany.
And divide life between two countries.
Then came COVID.
The rest of the story, at least in parts, many of you already know.
What fascinates me most about this video is that none of what exists today can be seen yet.
No pool.
No restaurant.
No guests.
No Red Coconut.
No 7 Tables.
And yet, in a way, it was all already there.
Not on the land.
But in the mind of someone who had spent years collecting ideas, making plans and quietly dreaming.
Perhaps everything in life has its own timing.
Its own pace.
And sometimes progress is not about moving faster.
Sometimes it is about being patient enough to wait until the time is right.
In the next post, I'll show the exact same view again.
Just a few years later.
Not built overnight.
Still growing.
—
More than dinner.
📍 Bentota, Sri Lanka
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www.redcoconut-villa.com
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+49 179 7510489
https://www.redcoconut-villa.com/7tables/
