Dream House | A villa full of surprises
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Dine and relax by the beach.
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A bedroom with mesmerising seaviews.
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The open-air pool, constructed on the inside, serves as both a cooling retreat and a striking design centrepiece.
The design elements of this dream home are ideal for Jamaica’s tropical marine climate.
A sprawling one-storey footprint, it includes several individual, peaked shingle roof pavilions, connected to each other by way of indoor, arched columned corridors throughout. Extensive verandahs and their rows of continuous white pillars wrap around the internal spatial arrangements by the scenic seafront with its two private beaches.
Hiding behind the external walls of this house, from corner to corner, are open-air, sunlit interior gardens, with palm trees and flowering plants dividing rooms. Plants remove toxins while purifying the natural circulating air, and improve the aesthetics and our mental and physical well-being.
While some homes employ the visual and psychological trick of large glass doors to admit the natural outdoors in, this home relies on no optical illusion. A part of its four-acre lush landscape is literally on the inside for that sensorial experience.
Another astonishing feature is the 35-foot diameter, circular indoor brick-lined swimming pool, which cools and enhances the ambiance of the house. A poolside wet bar faithfully serves its purpose.
The luxurious indoor-outdoor architectural masterpiece involves seven bedrooms, each with walk-in closets. All have private bathrooms, with the primary bedroom including a double-basin vanity, a glass door shower, and a visually appealing circular hot spa tub for two – all with its own enclosed hidden garden.
There are double-entry foyers, east wing and west wing living rooms furnished in wicker, and a formal dining room, also in wicker, with its glass-top table under double glittering chandeliers. Also noteworthy is the commodious commercial kitchen, a powder room, and a two-car garage.
We found this prized property, off the beaten track, somewhere very close to Great River Bay, with the river bordering the parishes of St James and Hanover.
It’s a villa designed to stand out, spark conversation, and challenge perceptions of what a house can be.
Barry Rattray is a dream house designer and builder. Email feedback to barryrattray1@hotmail.com and lifestyle@gleanerjm.com.