Our Story · Bophut Hills
The house that lockdown designed
How a six-week trip became six years on Koh Samui, a question became a design brief, and a family home in the Bophut hills became Villa Unity.
It began with eight days.
In early 2020, Richard watched the events industry close around him. Back in Bangkok, he and Jimlim decided to take their daughters to Samui.
Eight days later they did. A suitcase each, the bikes, their two daughters — the youngest eight weeks old — and a car borrowed from Jimlim’s aunt. They had booked an Airbnb for five or six weeks. Then the island closed behind them.
Stuck on Samui with a collapsed industry and nowhere to go, they began asking each other a question that turned out to be a design brief: if we have to be stuck somewhere — what would we want that place to have? The answer became a spa floor, because the gyms were shut. A fifteen-metre pool, because their eldest spent that lockdown living in water. Five levels, so a family plus guests plus grandparents could be together without being on top of each other. Solar and battery, because on an island you learn quickly what dependence feels like. They bought the land in 2021, while the island was still finding its feet.
Seven houses taught them
where to build.
Before Bophut Hills the family lived in seven different houses across Samui, and most of what they learned was about access — too many beautiful places sit at the top of a punishing hill or on the edge of a busy road. Two of those houses were on the beach. Beautiful, until a weather front brings the ceiling fans down, or until you realise that sunset on a Thai beach is a communal hour, and there is no privacy in your own home.
So: a hillside. Connected in every direction, private on every side. They found the plot by driving past a for-sale sign, and two things stopped them. There was an elephant sanctuary next door. And a line of trees along the bottom boundary formed a green wall they knew they would keep — a view over the canopy to the sea, and complete privacy beneath it.
Unity
The name is not a marketing exercise. It was chosen in a year when togetherness was the thing everyone else was missing, and the logo is the family itself.
This isn’t a property we manage. It’s our home.
— Richard & Jimlim
The owners, and where they go
Richard came to Thailand in 2016, following Jimlim home. They travelled thirty countries together in that first year, married in Bangkok in 2017, and have two daughters, both born here. The family has lived on Koh Samui since March 2020.
When you stay, we move to another home on the island. The estate is yours; we’re nearby when needed and leave you to enjoy it when we’re not.
The details that
stay with you.
Granite cobble at the arrival, travertine on the steps, Sukabumi stone on the water feature, terrazzo through the living level. The spirit house in the garden is carved from marble blessed by monks.
Their eldest daughter, then barely talking, used to point at the elephants and call them Emmy, because she couldn’t say the word. The Haven’s café opened on that field eighteen months before the house was finished; you can walk there before breakfast and watch elephants swimming while you eat.
At six every evening the cicadas start. When they stop, the quiet that follows is the thing you notice. Below the boundary there is a wooded gully with a stream and a small seasonal waterfall.
Villa Unity has never been rented. It opens to its first staying guests in December 2026.
Your stay at Villa Unity
Five ensuite suites, with three king and two queen beds. Four suites are on Level 4; the Garden Suite is on Level 1. Up to ten overnight guests, including any resident retreat leaders.
The estate is on a hillside, with stairs to all areas and no lift or step-free access. The pool is unfenced, ungated and unsupervised. Children need continuous adult supervision around water, stairs and elevated terraces.
A resident villa manager and daily housekeeping are included. Private chef service is THB 5,000 per meal, plus groceries at cost +20%, arranged in advance. Treatments and visiting practitioners are arranged and charged separately.
Return airport transfers are included for December 2026–August 2027 stays, for direct bookings and all OTAs. Later stays are quoted on enquiry; up to three vehicles for your group.
Everything you need to know
For anything not covered here, contact us directly and we’ll reply personally.
The minimum stay is 3 nights in ordinary High, Mid and Shoulder seasons; 5 nights when any occupied night falls on 5–12 February, 26 March–4 April or 13–15 April 2027; and 7 nights when any occupied night falls between 18 December and 11 January. A stay occupying both the nights of 25 and 31 December requires 10 nights. The strongest rule across all occupied nights applies; checkout is excluded. Shorter festive stays require manual owner approval. Private family months remain by request only.
Villa Unity is our family home. During May–June and September–November each year we live here ourselves, so these months aren’t publicly listed. We do occasionally accommodate very special requests, depending on timing — so if your dates fall within these months, please reach out directly rather than assuming it isn’t possible. We’ll always do our best to help.
Villa Unity is rented as a complete estate only — all five bedrooms, all five levels, all facilities. There are no partial rentals. This is how it was designed to be experienced: a single, cohesive private home for your group, up to 10 guests across 5 en-suite bedrooms.
The Samui Elephant Haven is a short 150-metre walk from the villa entrance. They operate half-day ethical encounter sessions (no riding, no performance) and a café where you can dine while watching the elephants. We recommend booking directly with the sanctuary; fees apply. That proximity — a short walk from the gate — is part of what makes the setting special.
Return airport transfers are included for inaugural-season stays from December 2026 to August 2027. Private chef service: THB 5,000 per meal, plus groceries at cost +20%. Arrange in advance.
Villa Unity runs on solar power with battery backup, designed to carry the villa’s essential systems through Samui’s occasional grid outages — a material comfort on the island. 1-gigabit fibre broadband is available throughout, and Loxone smart-home automation manages climate, blinds, lighting and humidity across all spaces from a single interface.
Stairs throughout the property are required to access all areas. There is no lift or step-free access. The pool is unfenced, ungated and unsupervised. Children need continuous adult supervision around the water, stairs and elevated terraces. Discuss your group's needs with the owners before booking.
Very much so. The cinema and office doubles as a presentation and meeting space, and the rooftop deck is ideal for open-air strategy sessions. 1-gigabit fibre broadband and smart-home AV throughout. The catering capability removes all logistical friction, and the complete privacy of the estate means the work — and the rest — both happen at the highest quality.
Bophut Hills, north Koh Samui. Samui Airport is approximately 7km (15 minutes by car). Fisherman’s Village — the heart of the local town — and Bophut Beach are five minutes away (2km). Direct flights serve Koh Samui from Bangkok (45 min), Singapore (1.5 hrs) and other regional hubs. For inaugural-season bookings made directly or through any online travel agency (OTA) (arrivals December 2026 – August 2027), complimentary return airport transfers are included.
The name was chosen in 2020, a year when togetherness was the thing most people were missing — and the logo is the family who built it. Villa Unity was finished anyway.
Architecture by James Atkinson of Fractal Architecture and Design, Koh Samui. Interiors by Julius Kanand, formerly a project director at Gensler in China — Villa Unity was his first project in Thailand. The design brief came from the owners, written during the 2020 lockdown; the land was bought in 2021 and the house took five years to complete.
Yes — Villa Unity was built as the owners' family home, and they live in it between stays. When guests are in residence the estate is entirely theirs: the family hands over the whole house and stays elsewhere on the island, close enough to help within minutes, and as present or as invisible as guests would like.
Reservations are open now. Guest stays begin on 1 December 2026. Return airport transfers are included for inaugural-season stays from December 2026 to August 2027. Private chef service: THB 5,000 per meal, plus groceries at cost +20%. Arrange in advance.