Dream House | Sally Henzell’s seaside sanctuary withstands Hurricane Melissa

Our hearts go out to all who are facing loss and devastation in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, which has caused extreme destruction to homes and communities in western Jamaica.

In January 2020, in search of paradise unknown, we had found this cottage in the wilderness of trees, directly on the waterfront, in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth, not far from where the hurricane made landfall. It is owned by Sally Henzell, who founded Jakes Hotel, just a stone’s throw away. Her late husband was director and producer Perry Henzell, famously known for the movie The Harder They Come. She had designed and built the house after he died in 2006.

A curious, rustic 1,000-square-foot house, with minimal walls, designed and constructed on top of 10-foot high columns, allowing for the easy passage of wind and rain below. It was artfully conceived, with its high-level pear-shaped fixed windows, ornamental handmade mosaics at every turn you make, with walls of magical inlaid colourful glass. The dining porch under the house accommodates the kitchen, the only room under the house, with a dumb waiter (a small elevator). A toilet strangely has its walls as part of an actual tree.

“It’s a miracle. God looked after me,” Henzell shared upon realising that the monster of a storm had spared her home, save for the major outdoor clean-up headache of fallen trees, branches, and the mess the seafront was left in. She had boarded up her windows, and the roof stayed faithfully throughout the unrelenting wind onslaught, never to leave the structure.

Yet, right beside her on the same coastline, her treasured Jakes Hotel experienced a far different fate than her cottage, which has seen much damage. But the hotel will endure, as it did after damage from Hurricane Beryl last year, building back better and far more resilient as it continues to forge a respectful relationship with the forces of nature

In 2022, the United Nations warned that the world is in a “life-or-death struggle” for survival as “climate chaos gallops ahead”. So we have to build smarter going ahead. Henzell believes, without a shadow of a doubt, that how she built her dream house prepared it to face the wrath of Hurricane Melissa.

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