She returned to her childhood neighbourhood in Chiang Mai to restore a house from her past

Textile designer and interior stylist Narisa Watananun has returned to her childhood neighborhood of Wat Ket in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to meticulously restore a house steeped in personal history. Located a short walk from the bustling Old City, Wat Ket offers a quieter, more layered experience of Chiang Mai, characterized by its residential feel and slower pace.

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To me, it has always felt like one of the quieter, more layered parts of Chiang Mai.

Watananun, who grew up in Wat Ket before attending boarding school in England and studying textiles in London, now lives in Singapore. She is the founder of Studio Baro, known for its work on various high-profile projects. For her, restoring the "Little House Chiang Mai" was also a journey back to a landscape filled with cherished childhood memories. She notes that Wat Ket retains traces of the older Chiang Mai, with its traditional shophouses, temples, small lanes, and a rich mix of cultures and histories.

The family's connection to Wat Ket is significant. Watananun's great-grandfather, William Bain, was a Scottish teak trader who managed the Borneo Company's operations in Chiang Mai. His family lived in a teak house on the Borneo Company compound, which now forms the historic heart of the 137 Pillars House Chiang Mai hotel. Bain later moved to another house on the property, where Watananun spent her childhood.

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What I’ve always loved about Wat Ket is that you can still find traces of the older Chiang Mai here – the shophouses, the temples, the small lanes, and the mix of cultures and histories that still shape the area.

Despite living abroad for much of her life, Watananun maintained a connection to Wat Ket, visiting annually. Her recent acquisition of three small houses on the family estate, originally bought, dismantled, and reassembled in Wat Ket by her grandfather, Jack Bain, provided a new reason to return. She finds joy in seeing these houses, which she remembers from her childhood, take on a new life through the restoration process. The "Little House Chiang Mai" is the first of these three houses to undergo this transformation, embracing matte finishes and natural materials to create a "certain softness under light."

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It’s nice to see them taking on a new life because I remember seeing them around when I was a child.