Sun | Oct 19, 2025

Dream House | The home that Sol Atlas built

Published:Sunday | October 19, 2025 | 12:07 AMBarry Rattray - Contributor
Pause
A striking waterfront estate designed as a series of connected gazebo pavilions.
Nigel Lord
A striking waterfront estate designed as a series of connected gazebo pavilions.
A vast, sculptural seafront pool.
Nigel Lord
A vast, sculptural seafront pool.
An open-air atrium in the centre of the structures, filled with flowing cascading water, palms and shrubbery. Amazing!
Nigel Lord
An open-air atrium in the centre of the structures, filled with flowing cascading water, palms and shrubbery. Amazing!
Never to be forgotten, separate ‘his’ and ‘hers’ primary bathrooms with private outdoor rain showers.
Nigel Lord
Never to be forgotten, separate ‘his’ and ‘hers’ primary bathrooms with private outdoor rain showers.
A one-of-a-kind primary bedroom, blending the indoors with outdoors.
Nigel Lord
A one-of-a-kind primary bedroom, blending the indoors with outdoors.
The incredible living room with its 56 glass doors looking out to sea.
Nigel Lord
The incredible living room with its 56 glass doors looking out to sea.
1
2
3
4
5
6

The late New York tycoon Sol Atlas built this house. He was a leading real estate developer and builder of shopping centres and skyscrapers in America, who also lectured at Yale Law School. Atlas even made an unsuccessful bid to buy Ellis Island in New York (now part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument) from the government.

Ownership of the property was transferred to Jamaican businessman Shifu Huang, who is associated with real estate development.

A warm welcome to a striking, palatial waterfront estate, with 15,000 square feet of elegantly casual indoor-outdoor living space, at one with nature. It is designed as a series of distinct yet connected, airy pavilions with gazebo-style peaked roofs, separated by a reflecting pool, water gardens, and arched red Japanese footbridges. Inside, tall mahogany doors lead outdoors to reveal grace while private landscaped porches adjoin rooms, some with indoor secret gardens.

All this is situated on a sprawling five-acre site, nine miles west of Montego Bay, with its own private 500 feet of sandy beach. The grounds are punctuated with refreshing natural waterfalls, a lily pond, a vast sculptural swimming pool, and another rectangular pool, amid lush, flowering vegetation and majestic royal palms.

At the nucleus of the design is the unparalleled, open-air atrium (allowing natural light and fresh air), filled with flowing, cascading water, palms, and shrubbery.

The main pavilion houses the wrap-around glass-wall living room (having no less than 56 glass doors) and a massive, fully surrounding white marble verandah, looking out to the mesmeric sea and beyond.

The main house has four one-of-a-kind, large, king-size bedrooms with memorable bathrooms boasting sunken circular tubs inside their own hidden, open-sky, walled-in gardens! The primary suite is equipped with ‘his’ and ‘hers’ bathrooms.

A guest house encompasses the fifth bedroom, featuring two bathrooms, a wet bar, a living room, a kitchenette, a verandah, and a poolside shower.

We are quite overwhelmed by the experience. I would like to thank Heather Hamilton for allowing us in.

Barry Rattray is a dream house designer and builder. Email feedback to barryrattray1@hotmail.com and lifestyle@gleanerjm.com.