The Villa: a traditional wooden house in a walled tropical garden
You wake to mountain air in the cool hills above Yogyakarta, around 630 metres up, and step onto the veranda: below you lie a private pool and a 3,000 m² walled tropical garden that the road never sees. A wooden house built in a traditional North Sulawesi style, on the green flank of Merapi — with staff who look after you around the clock.
A stay at Villa Tanen is much more than eating, swimming and sleeping — it’s an experience in itself.
— our own motto, for years
Not sure your dates are still open? See which dates are free → — no need to open an OTA to check first.
Villa Tanen at a glance
| What | Traditional wooden holiday villa with private pool |
|---|---|
| Where | Tanen village (Hargobinangun, Pakem, Sleman) — about 21 km north of Yogyakarta, at ±630 m elevation |
| Sleeps | Up to 12 guests in 6 double rooms, plus a free-standing garden studio for 2 |
| Grounds | 3,000 m² fully walled tropical garden; pool up to 2 m deep, cleaned daily |
| Included | Daily breakfast (Indonesian or European), 24/7 staff, daily housekeeping, free Wi-Fi |
| Service | English-speaking driver-guide available; airport pick-up arranged on request |
| Booking | Direct with the Dutch owner — via WhatsApp or a short enquiry form |
All rates and options: rooms & rates →
A wooden house in North Sulawesi style, with Javanese interiors
What kind of house is Villa Tanen?
Villa Tanen is a wooden house built in a traditional North Sulawesi style, with Javanese interiors, set on the edge of a real kampong untouched by mass tourism. The house is built entirely of timber — warm wooden floors and walls — with two floors, a shaded veranda overlooking the garden and pool, and rooms furnished the Javanese way. It takes its name from Tanen, the village it belongs to. What you see in the photos is what you get: one house, one garden, one pool — and nothing else between you and the rice fields.
How the house is laid out:
Ground floor — the entrance, a spacious living room opening onto the kitchen, and a large rear veranda facing the garden and pool. Three bedrooms and a bathroom with hot-water shower and toilet.
First floor — a mezzanine landing with seating for six and a water dispenser, three more bedrooms, and a second bathroom with hot-water shower and toilet.
All six bedrooms measure 5 × 4.5 metres, with a double bed or two singles, a wardrobe, a small seating corner, reading lamps and a ceiling fan. Worth knowing: book a single room and the other rooms on that floor stay empty — so the bathroom is effectively yours. Full details and rates are on rooms & rates →.
Is Villa Tanen good for a multi-family holiday?
Yes — six double rooms over two floors (one bathroom per floor), a shared living room, a large veranda and a walled 3,000 m² garden with pool make Villa Tanen a natural base for up to 12 guests. Each family gets its own rooms, and everyone gathers on the veranda or in the gazebos at the end of the day. Book the whole villa and the house is entirely yours — no other guests at all. Whole villa free for your dates? Check availability →
See the house, inside and out
Want more — every room, every corner? Browse the photo gallery → — or seen enough and ready to see it for real? Check availability →
A 3,000 m² garden, a pool — and plenty to fill your days
The entire property is walled: 3,000 m² of tropical garden that is yours to enjoy in complete privacy. Children can roam freely, and the pool lies hidden in the greenery, out of sight from the road on every side. It’s a family pool in the best sense: a round, shallow children’s and paddling section to keep an eye on the little ones, a middle that slopes down gently so you can wade in, and a deep end down to 2 metres for anyone who really wants to swim. Step out of your room and you’re straight in the water. Everything you’d want from a holiday home on Java is already here:
- Pool — a round children’s and paddling section, a gently sloping middle and a deep end down to 2 m; cleaned every day, with sunloungers and mattresses beside it.
- 3 gazebos and 2 hammocks — shaded spots dotted around the garden.
- Garden games — a badminton net with rackets and shuttles, a table-tennis table with everything that goes with it, a basketball hoop and pétanque.
- 2 mountain bikes — free to borrow for exploring the village and the rice fields.
- 2 golf sets with plastic practice balls — free to borrow; the 18-hole Merapi Golf course is 5 km away.
- Books, guidebooks & board games — a full shelf for slow afternoons and long evenings.
A fair note on sharing: book the whole villa and all of this is exclusively yours. Book a room, a floor or the studio, and you share the garden and pool with the other guests on the property — there is more than enough of both to go around.
Garden and pool all to yourselves for your dates? Check availability →
Is there Wi-Fi, and do EU plugs fit?
Yes — Wi-Fi is free throughout Villa Tanen, and the sockets are 220 V and take standard European two-pin plugs, so there’s no need for a travel adapter.
Does Villa Tanen have staff?
Yes — this is a staffed villa in the fullest sense, so cooking and chores are never something you have to do.
The coffee is on before you’re up, the pool is clean by the time you dive in, and breakfast is waiting on the veranda each morning. And these are real people looking after you. Diana and Najah are the hosts — they run the rooms and the kitchen and live on the grounds themselves, so there’s always someone close by. Bejo is the all-rounder and gardener who keeps the house and garden in order, and Suradi is out first thing every morning clearing the grounds of fallen leaves. Between them, the house, the garden, the pool and the kitchen are all taken care of, so your only real decision is what tomorrow looks like.
Staff are on site 24/7: daily breakfast and housekeeping are included, the pool is cleaned every day, and an English-speaking driver-guide is available at extra cost.
Every morning: breakfast on the veranda. You choose day by day — Indonesian or European. Fresh fruit comes from the garden, and water, tea and coffee are on hand all day.
Lunch and dinner? Just ask. Diana and Najah prepare traditional Indonesian dishes from fresh local produce for a modest extra charge — European dishes on request. Fresh juices, pressed from garden and local fruit, are part of the deal. Dietary requirements? Just tell us — we’re happy to accommodate. Beer and soft drinks are available for a small charge. Prefer to cook yourselves? The kitchen is all yours.
Want to get behind the wok? Join the Javanese cooking workshop: first to the market for fresh ingredients, then into the kitchen for the finer points. More in our guide to village life & workshops →.
Wellness, delivered to the villa. Massage, hairdresser, pedicure, manicure or a beauty treatment — it all comes to you, at extra cost. Laundry and ironing can be arranged too.
Out and about with a driver-guide. We don’t recommend visitors drive themselves on Java. Instead, an English-speaking driver-guide with a car is available at extra cost (fuel and parking included). He knows Central Java inside out — he’ll plan your days with you, and is just as happy to walk you through the rice paddies.
Already picturing breakfast on the veranda? Check availability
Can you hold a wedding or retreat at Villa Tanen?
Yes — Villa Tanen’s grounds lend themselves to private events such as weddings, meetings, workshops and yoga retreats. Picture a wedding on the large veranda in the late evening light, the walled garden slowly darkening behind you, your guests simply walking up to a room afterwards. That same 3,000 m² garden, the gazebos, six rooms plus a studio for everyone who stays over, and staff to handle the food and the setup: the essentials are in place. Message us with your idea and we’ll tell you honestly what’s possible.
Where you’ll be: Tanen village, 21 km above Yogyakarta
Villa Tanen stands in Tanen, a small, genuinely Indonesian village — a kampong — on Merapi’s green southern slopes, untouched by mass tourism. In Tanen, everyone greets everyone, including you; that’s not staged for visitors, it’s simply how the village works. Rice-field and village walks start at the gate, and at around 630 m (about 2,070 ft) the air is noticeably cooler than in the city — with fewer insects, too.
The address is real and yours to check: JL Boyong Kaliurang RT01/25, Hargobinangun, Pakem, Sleman, Yogyakarta — see it on Google Maps. What you see on this page is what’s actually there.
From the villa
Extract — the full distance table lives in our area guide →
| Merapi Volcano Museum | walking distance |
|---|---|
| Merapi Golf (18 holes) | 5 km |
| Pasar Pakem (the local market) | nearby |
| Yogyakarta city centre / Malioboro | about 21 km |
| Borobudur | reachable as a day trip |
| Prambanan | reachable as a day trip (17 km east of Yogyakarta) |
| Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) | by car about 2 hours |
Three UNESCO World Heritage sites are within reach: Borobudur, Prambanan and the Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta (Sumbu Filosofi) — the royal axis aligned on Mount Merapi, the very volcano whose slopes you’ll be sleeping on. How to visit them (including the new Borobudur ticket rules) is in our Borobudur & Prambanan guide →; everything on the volcano, the jeep tours and the museum within walking distance is in our Merapi & nature guide →.
Sleeping on the flank of Merapi? Check availability →
With Villa Tanen, what you see is what you get — and when something isn’t possible, we’ll tell you straight. You book directly with the Dutch owner — booking direct means no OTA commission.
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