Knai Bang Chatt
Vann Molyvann's 1960s modernist villas on Cambodia's quiet Kep coast
About the Property
A cluster of three 1960s modernist villas designed by Vann Molyvann — Cambodia's most celebrated architect and father of New Khmer Architecture — Knai Bang Chatt sits on the Kep waterfront. The villas, built for Cambodia's elite during the Sihanouk era, feature dramatic concrete canopies, open-air living spaces, and seamless indoor-outdoor flow. After surviving decades of war and neglect, they were restored by Javier Moro and reopened as a boutique hotel that preserves Molyvann's radical modernist vision.
Original Purpose
New Khmer Architecture villa compound
Highlights
History Timeline
Cambodia gains full independence from France under King Norodom Sihanouk; Kep-sur-Mer becomes a fashionable seaside retreat for Phnom Penh's political and intellectual elite.
Three modernist villas commissioned and designed by Vann Molyvann — Cambodia's first internationally trained architect — as private residences for members of the Sihanouk-era ruling class.
Khmer Rouge forces capture Kep; residents are evacuated and the villas abandoned, left to the encroaching jungle for nearly two decades of civil war.
UN-supervised elections restore constitutional monarchy; Kep's coastline slowly becomes accessible again as landmine clearance begins in the surrounding countryside.
Spanish hotelier Javier Moro leads restoration of the three Vann Molyvann villas, preserving their original New Khmer modernist geometry while adding a pool and sailing facilities.
Named Cambodia's Leading Boutique Hotel at the World Travel Awards, drawing international attention to Kep's overlooked modernist heritage.