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New England Hospitality

Like baseball and apple pie, New England summers are icons of American life. Here’s a handful of coastal New England retreats that will keep you pampered, refreshed, and feeling relaxed the whole season long. By Bernard Gilkey

The Ocean House in Watch Hill, Rhode Island

 

New England may be a composite of six states, each distinct in its own right, but there’s no doubting the region’s shared cultural identity. People travel to New England for its sleepy villages, steepled churches, lighthouses, beaches, and of course, the lobstah and chowdah. The allure of New England carries over to its lodging offerings—from ocean-side estates to contemporary resorts that are popular with locals and those seeking the quintessential New England vacation.

Ocean House in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, is the archetypal New England hotel—grand Victorian in design, crowned with a widow’s walk, and replete with views stretching over the Atlantic to Montauk and Block Island. It also has a curious history and a renaissance born out of tragedy: In 2003, a fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick claimed the lives of 100 people. As a result, fire codes were revisited and enforced more rigorously. Ocean House, which was originally built in 1868, had over time fallen into disrepair and was found to be noncompliant with building codes. New owners acquired the structure in 2003 and did the unthinkable: They demolished it.

The owners had a plan, however, and it all came to fruition when Ocean House reopened its doors in 2010. The new owner, mutual fund manager Charles Royce, made sure that more than half of the new iteration replicated the original building (around 5,000 salvageable artifacts from the original were included). The results have been nothing less than exquisite, attracting fans such as Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen and MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough.

Ocean House is comprised of 49 guestrooms and suites, with the best accommodations being the Tower Suite, Penthouse Suite, and the Atlantic Suite, the latter of which is a top pick for its two large terraces and peerless ocean views. Spread over 1,200 square feet, the Atlantic Suite also includes top tech touches, like an iPod docking station, two 42-inch flat-screen TVs, and another smaller TV in the carpevola-marbled bathroom).

Seasons is the resort’s signature restaurant, and its farm-to-table approach is drawing foodies from all over the region. The menu rotates, so there is no signature dish, but the Harvest Menu is the restaurant’s tasting menu and a must-order.

Ocean House also has an ownership component for those who want the experience to last 365 days a year. There are 21 residences in all, but only six are still available for sale. There are three larger two-bedroom residences (2,200-2,300 square feet), each priced at $3,900,000, and three smaller two-bedroom residences (1,400-1,600 square feet), each priced at $2,900,000. These residences all feature 180-degree oceanfront views and large outdoor terraces. The residences also grant owners year-round covered heated parking and all of the amenities of the hotel, including free membership in the Ocean House Club.

In contrast to the monolithic Ocean House, Cape Cod’s Wequassett plays the role of sprawling resort destination. Over the years, it’s drawn praise from not only guests, but also by voters—it’s the only AAA Four Diamond property on the Cape.

What you have in many of Wequassett’s 120 rooms and suites is a cottagey, shabby-chic feel—think Rachel Ashwell conquers the Cape. The top pick here is the Round Cove Suite, part of the resort’s Signature Collection of rooms. The Round Cove Suite can be reserved in a one-, two-, or three-bedroom configuration and has gas fireplaces and an expansive deck with bay views. Or, guests can opt for a Signature Water Side with views of Pleasant Bay from a private deck.

 

As impressive as accommodations are, it’s Wequassett’s signature restaurant, twenty-eight Atlantic, that is the showstopper. The food from Chef Bill Brodsky is befitting of a restaurant with a four-star designation, serving dishes that are rife with native and seasonal ingredients. The restaurant’s dish of caramelized day boat scallops with mushroom ravioli and truffle cream sauce would excite even the most jaded gourmand.

On any day, make arrangements with the resort to shuttle you via speedboat to Nauset Beach, the resort’s private beach across Pleasant Bay, where they will provide you with a picnic lunch. The hotel also has a fleet of BMW SUVs to take guests into the town of Chatham, but a daytrip to Provincetown on the tip of the Cape is another advisable option. Dine at the famous Lobster Pot, then stroll Commercial Street, which has an assortment of high-end stores (think Marc Jacobs) and more local shops—stop into Marine Specialties for hard-to-find military knickknacks.

About as far as you can get from one part of New England to the other is the Delamar Southport, in Southport, Connecticut, about an hour north of New York City. The hotel is a salute to traditional New England Colonial architecture and has such a quaint feel that you can easily forget that it is situated in the shadow of I-95. Once you pull up, the comfortable, cozy New England vibe takes hold.

A recent stay in a deluxe king-bedded guestroom was noted for its décor: light, airy, and anchored by a resplendent four-poster bed. Fido will also appreciate the Delamar; the hotel is pet friendly and will set owners up with a dog bowl and bed. The hotel also has six suites, notably the three-bedroom Woodward-Newman Presidential Suite (the famous actor and condiment king lived in nearby Westport).

Suites boast full kitchens—but who needs it when you have an on-property restaurant as good as Artisan? The restaurant is ensconced within the hotel’s courtyard and combines the feel of a New England tavern with 18th-century Scandinavian design. Helmed by Executive Chef Frederic Kieffer, the menu offers seasonally inspired farm-to-table fare. While the restaurant’s inside is particularly warm, dining alfresco is as much a visual as olfactory experience. Outdoor tables are ringed by an array of herb plants (rosemary, sage, and thyme) that the kitchen cultivates and uses in its dishes.

The Delamar Southport also has a sister property, the Delamar Greenwich Harbor, just south in this tony Connecticut enclave. Adjacent to a marina, the 42-foot Grand Banks yacht Pegasus is docked at the harbor and available for private charters for individual guests or groups up to 12.

Visitors to Nantucket may have wondered what happened to the Point Breeze Hotel after it shut down in 2005. Well, the 60-room grand dame, which dates back to 1891, is back in action after a years-long renovation and will receive guests this summer as The Nantucket.

Nestled in the heart of Nantucket town, this turn-of-the-century resort has been doubled in size and completely refurbished to look as it did long ago. The owners, Mark and Gwenn Snider, who also own the Winnetu Oceanside Resort on Martha’s Vineyard, have tapped into the hotel’s bygone era with the hopes of transforming the hotel into the quintessential New England island experience.

The hotel now features one- to four-bedroom suites, as well as summer cottages. Each suite is also equipped with its own kitchenette. Note: Leave the car on the mainland. The hotel offers shuttles to the ferries and the town and the beaches are just a short walk.

From July through September 8, guests at The Nantucket will also have the opportunity to take advantage of a two-island resort stay offered with the Winnetu. Guests can vacation at both resorts, receive complimentary transfers on the islands, and enjoy reserved seating on the high-speed ferry connecting Hyannis, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket.

Need other Nantucket options? Lark Hotels has just added the 11-room Chapman House (larkhotels.com) to its portfolio. Chapman House—which is the sister property to Lark Hotels’ other Nantucket property, Veranda House, and boasts modern-meets-coastal décor by Boston’s Rachel Reider Interiors—will begin welcoming guests June 15.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Belize Beauties

Lounging poolside at Turtle Inn's Family Pavilion

Francis Ford Coppola’s trio of esteemed lodges headlines Belize’s eco-luxury revolution. By Paul Rubio

Connecting the landmasses of North and South America, the isthmus of Central America explodes with extraordinary landscapes reflecting the rich and fertile lands once ruled by the Maya. Following the eco-tourism successes of its Mesoamerican neighbors, Belize is the latest country to hop on the green-travel bandwagon, satisfying a hunger for both enthralling adventure and sun-drenched bliss. Focusing on the history and majesty of the history-steeped Maya Mountains and the aquamarine rapture of the world’s second-largest barrier reef, quiet Belize is now making a name for itself in the world of high-end travel, thanks largely to a very special Hollywood director.

While best known for The Godfather films in the United States and Europe, the name Francis Ford Coppola takes on a different meaning in Belize and neighboring Guatemala. In between Oscar-winning films, Coppola’s mad love affair with English-speaking Belize spawned several offspring: Blancaneaux Lodge in Belize’s Maya Mountains; Turtle Inn along Belize’s Placencia Peninsula; and La Lancha, situated near the ancient city of Tikal off the Belize-Guatemala border. Mention Coppola’s name in these parts and imagery of eco-luxury immediately comes to mind.

The Placencia Peninsula, along Belize’s central coastline, is the latest hotspot for Central American beachfront real estate and is home to Coppola’s thatched-roof beachfront retreat, Turtle Inn. To those who’ve previously stumbled upon Belize’s downtrodden coastal capital, Belize City, fear not; Placencia bears no resemblance to the country’s economic epicenter and will quickly replace any previous feelings of “paradise lost.” With its own airport and all the trappings of a textbook bohemian beach town, a visit to Placencia and Turtle Inn is likely to inspire future investment in this small slice of coastal heaven.

Placencia epitomizes Belize’s diversity with a vibe that’s distinctly laid-back Caribbean, cuisine that pulls from both the islands and the Maya heartland, and a population that blends all races. The mangrove-rich peninsula recalls the beauty of the Florida Keys, while the presence of the world’s second-largest barrier reef farther afield reveals some of the globe’s top dive spots.

Turtle Inn’s stylish and expansive bungalows are at once rustic and luxe—just what honeymoon dreams are made of. Simplicity is key, so forget about all technological distractions, because you won’t find them here. Even if you want to communicate with the front desk, you’ll have to page them with your in-room “Gilligan’s Island”-style conch “shell phone.”

Your days at Turtle Inn will consist of poolside and beachside lounging, the occasional swim to the resort’s floating sundecks, feasting on Italian and Belizean cuisine, and spending plenty of romantic time in your personal alfresco shower garden. For added relaxation, the Thai therapists at the house spa are available to perform invigorating and stress-relieving massages and rituals from their homeland in outdoor pavilions.

The majority of accommodations take shape as villas and cottages that offer garden or sea views and are adorned in Balinese and Guatemalan fabrics and woodcarvings from the onsite wood shop. Elevated triangular wood ceilings capture the day’s heat while ubiquitous screen windows channel coastal zephyrs, reducing the need for air conditioning. (Those travelers who are sensitive to heat will want to visit in cooler months, from December to March.)

Larger families and those in-the-know frequently opt to reside in Coppola’s personal vacation villa, the larger Balinese-inspired Francis Ford Coppola Family Pavilion, which flaunts its own private pool and attendant, all while still being part of the Turtle Inn complex. High-profile guests and those looking for extreme privacy seek refuge in Turtle Inn’s Beach House, a completely secluded private home designed by architect Laurent Deroo, reflecting a tropical blend of modern luxury.

While Belize’s coastline makes its mark as a destination for plenty of fun in the sun, the mystical ruins and mountainous landscapes in western Belize also appeals to both seasoned and novice outdoor enthusiasts. Coppola’s Blancaneaux Lodge showcases the best of western Belize’s Maya Mountains, a region teeming with mysterious caves, dramatic waterfalls, hiking trails, and exalted Maya archaeological sites, such as the stunning Caracol.

Blancaneaux stands tall in Belize’s Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, peering over the serene Privassion River, its mammoth huts and villas connected by labyrinthine walking trails through a magical pine forest. Blancaneaux calls to those seeking an “eco-light” experience, with nature serving as nothing more than a scenic backdrop, as well as more hard-core travelers looking for rigorous hikes and intrepid adventures, like searching for tracks of the elusive jaguar.

 

Whatever your preferred style of vacation, days at Blancaneaux are commonly split between enthralling day trips (the preeminent one being to Caracol) and lazy afternoons of bespoke bonding with nature. This includes soaking in the pool-sized hot tub while listening to birdcalls, swaying in a riverside hammock with a good read, or succumbing to the call of the wild in the private plunge pools and the outdoor shower gardens of the Deluxe Cabanas. Onsite, guests can tour Blancaneaux’s organic garden, the source for the majority of fruits and vegetables for the property’s restaurant, Montagna Ristorante, and the beautiful floral arrangements found within guest villas. Horseback riding is also a popular pastime, with 17 horses eagerly waiting for riders to wander with through the surrounding pine forest and nearby broadleaf forest.

Similar to Turtle Inn, guests at Blancaneaux have the option of walking in Coppola’s shoes by staying in his personal vacation villa at Blancaneaux. Naturally, the Francis Ford Coppola Villa has the best seat in the house, directly overlooking Privassion Creek, and boasts a private pool and service from a private attendant. Inside the villa, expect plenty of artifacts from Coppola’s personal travel collection, namely a wealth of colorful Guatemalan huapils (pronounced wee-peel), which are colorful, handwoven poncho-style garments found in the varied regions of the Guatemalan highlands. Analogous to Turtle Inn’s Beach House, Blancaneaux also offers the exclusive 1,800-square-foot Enchanted Cottage, with its own private entrance. True to its namesake, the Enchanted Cottage wows with its juxtaposition of stone and wood and features heated floors, a bedroom fireplace, and an exotic Japanese bathtub.

All international flights land at Belize City International Airport; and once in Belize, Coppola’s lodges provide land transfers and work closely with Tropic Air to secure seats on the airline’s wealth of regularly scheduled, connecting services to the country’s most remote pockets. Though it is possible to simply visit one of the Coppola lodges exclusively, the excellent tourism infrastructure connecting the Turtle Inn, Blancaneaux, and the third lodge, La Lancha, often prompts visitors to sample at least two, if not all three lodges, for a deliciously diverse sojourn through Mesoamerica.

Lake Peten at La Lancha

The Details: Belize

Tropicair.com; coppolaresorts.com; Turtle Inn from $285/night to $2,500/night; Blancaneaux Lodge from $255/night to $1800 /night.

 Guatemala Unedited Opt for an excursion to Guatemala to experience Coppola’s La Lancha lodge.

Given time constraints of the modern traveler, it’s not always possible to sample all three of Coppola’s lodges. In most instances, Guatemala’s La Lancha fails to make the final cut. However, travelers should note that La Lancha is true eco-tourism at its finest, and getting to and from Flores, Guatemala is fairly simple.

Less than two hours from the Belize border, in Guatemala’s El Peten region, the rainforest meets the sparkling waters of Lake Peten Itza at La Lancha, Coppola’s charming 10-room boutique lodge. Those looking for charismatic wildlife will certainly find it here. Outside the balconies of the Lakeview Casitas, colorful toucans take flight, while curious howler monkeys go about their daily “monkey business.”

Wildlife endeavors notwithstanding, the anchor for a trip to La Lancha is a visit to the most famous of all Mayan ruins, Tikal. A trek through the ancient world of Tikal is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that could easily headline your Central American travels. coppolaresorts.com/LaLancha, $90-$340/night.

3rd Home Offers Unique Travel Opportunities

Cabo Time: A swimming pool at Villas Las Palmas

Multi-homeownership is made easier, thanks to an innovative Internet-based company. By Scott Kauffman

Over the years, Kansas City, Missouri, residents Laura Welch and her husband Lantz have loved visiting the Hawaiian Islands, regularly spending as much as six weeks at a time in Maui’s Kihei area. The avid travelers equally enjoy going to Costa Rica. So when it came time for the couple to decide on a vacation home, they were “very torn,” Laura recalls.

“We almost bought [a vacation house] in Costa Rica,” she adds, “but we were staying in Hawaii quite a bit, so we were really torn about where to purchase.” As it turned out, Laura and Lantz, both lovers of the outdoors, went in a completely different direction and chose Aspen instead. They were drawn to the majestic Colorado Rockies and the wonderful mountain lifestyle it provides. That was in 1990. Ten years later, the couple acquired an even larger 6,200-square-foot Aspen vacation home: a luxurious $10 million property on Red Mountain.

Laura says that proximity to their main Kansas City residence was the deciding factor in purchasing their first Aspen home, rather than buying a dream vacation home in balmier Costa Rica and Hawaii. “What specifically led us to the [Aspen] mountains is that it’s three hours from our primary home, so it was very easy for us to get there,” Laura says. “We do love to ski and hike, and I love to climb mountains.”

Yet Laura, who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro last year and is about to visit Kashmir this year, has always had a soft spot for sandy beaches. She even concedes that she came close to purchasing a third vacation home in Costa Rica several years ago but decided against it due to the time-consuming burdens associated with maintaining and managing rarely used vacation homes.

Now, Laura and others faced with similar vacation home dilemmas never have to make these difficult decisions again. That’s because Welch has vacation homes in Costa Rica, Hawaii, and Brazil that she and Lantz can enjoy without the costs of fully owning them, thanks to a new travel/vacation home club called 3rd Home. And these were just three of the places Laura and Lantz visited in the previous 12 months alone.

If more people like Laura and Lantz Welch latch onto 3rd Home, this upstart Internet-based company has the potential to revolutionize how people view vacation homes in the future. Basically, for a mere $495 membership fee, 3rd Home allows vacation-home owners to trade their luxurious homes in exchange for visiting other multi-million-dollar vacation homes all around the world for a weekly rental fee of just $495.

After launching its business less than three years ago, 3rd Home now numbers 932 vacation homes in 57 countries, according to company founder/chairman Wade Shealy. The average price of the network’s homes is approximately $2.2 million. The homes range in value from $500,000 to more than $25 million, featuring everything from a penthouse villa in the French Riviera to an exquisite 43,000-square-foot oceanfront mansion in Costa Rica and a fabulous 7,000-square-foot coastal home in Florianapolis, Brazil, that has hosted actors George Clooney and Robert Downey Jr., and, most recently, the Welches this January.

“It’s just a great way to vacation,” says Laura, a business development/strategic planning consultant focused on social change. “You’re spending all this money on vacations anyway, why not trade [using 3rd Home]? I love the fact that 3rd Home is global, very easy to use, and flexible, and the staff and service is unbelievable. We’ve [never had] one person who I’m exchanging info with not say, ‘We will take great care of your home.’”

That wasn’t always the case when Laura began renting out her Aspen home prior to joining 3rd Home a couple of years ago. “Now we’ve got a better chance of having a good [rental] outcome,” she says. “It’s a win-win. You have these incredible opportunities to travel and stay at these wonderful homes around the world and know the fact someone is going to be taking care of your home at the same time. What 3rd Home has really given us is that beach home we always wanted. And I’m sure people who have beach homes feel the same way. In the summer they might say, ‘You know what, let’s go to the mountains,” or they might want to go skiing for a week. Whether you want to be in the mountains or whether you want to be at the beach, 3rd Home gives you the option of having it all.” Not the least of which are a lot fewer vacation home-ownership headaches.

 

“Most people today consider the ownership of a second home as the most underutilized asset that they own,” says Shealy, who’s nearing 30 years as a resort real estate specialist. “What we want to do is change people’s attitudes [so that] people start to consider ownership of a second home as a very valuable asset they own, because it allows them to travel to other places with their families as well.”

Shealy feels that membership in something like 3rd Home will eventually go hand in hand with multi-home ownership. “I really think 10 years from no, nobody would even consider purchasing a second home without a service or component like 3rd Home or something like the company that they can tie into,” he says. “Just like nobody today would consider buying a timeshare without an exchange component available to them as well.”

To be sure, 3rd Home isn’t the only group servicing the country’s 7.9 million seasonal or year-round vacation homeowners. However, most of the competitors operate as “direct, yours-for-mine exchange services.” Of the estimated 50,000 families throughout the world that trade mostly primary residences every year, many of them find this process of finding not just the right place, but also the right time to be very labor-intensive and time-consuming, even with the help of a third party.

Poolside patio at Las Arenas 103 at Punta Ballena Community

The beauty of 3rd Home, according to Laura, is that it’s an indirect transaction, meaning members of the network aren’t limited to staying at vacation homes of only those people who happen to find the member’s place desirable. Thus, 3rd Home is extremely flexible.

The way 3rd Home works is that members “deposit” into the network however many weeks they’d like to make available in their home. Then, depending on the value of their home, members receive a “key” they can use to “buy” weeks elsewhere. If a house is worth $1 million or less, the owner gets one key. A residence worth $1 million to $2 million receives two keys; $2 million to $3 million homes warrant three keys, and so on up to five keys maximum for every $4 million-plus property. Once keys are received, they can be used instantly in any combination of homes in the 3rd Home network. Owners don’t have to wait until another member reserves their vacation home to use keys, and there’s even a “Watch This Property” feature that alerts members when weeks have been deposited into the network at highly coveted destinations.

One of the more attractive aspects of 3rd Home, Laura says, is the endless amount of vacation choices. For example, she points out that maybe it’s just she and her husband who are going to Buenos Aires for a quick trip, so they don’t need a lot of space. Yet, they still want something really nice to stay in.

“We might use a little place that’s either an apartment or condo, but it’s only two keys, so we don’t use up all of our keys,” adds Laura, who has a trip planned for Hawaii next year. “Or maybe we want to take some family or we’re going with friends to Costa Rica, and we can stay in a five-key pad with 10 bedrooms.”

Regardless of size and style of accommodation, Laura wants to know that wherever she stays in a 3rd Home, it’s a “good place and is being taken care of.” It’s this latter element that is paramount for affluent property owners like the Welches.

When asked about the future of his company’s growth, Shealy says. “The major criterion for us is service. We really want to give unbelievable service to every single one of our members and deliver more than they ever dreamed possible as far as the vacation experience [goes].”

In the end, regardless of how big it gets, 3rd Home wants to be the finest luxury second-home exchange program in the world that has the highest standards in the industry. So far, if you ask Laura, the company is already achieving its goal.

“Here’s a company that’s managing quality of homes and the people that are going to be accessing them, so I trust and know beyond a shadow of doubt that 3rd Home is going to take care of me,” Laura says. “When I show up at that beach home, I know that [it] is going to be at the quality of where I want to stay and any questions I have, there’s a great staff I can go to [for help]. And I know that while I’m gone, if somebody is staying at my home, it’s going to be well taken care of. To me, that’s why I say it’s a win-win.”

In many respects, for Laura and Lantz Welch, when it comes to vacation homes, the third time really is a charm.

Dubai Presents the Underwater Hotel

Water Discus Hotel

Dubai likes outlandish ideas and has the will and the capacity to turn them into reality. From a trading outpost in the gulf the emirate has transformed itself into a financial hub between Hong Kong and London and the most important city in the region. It has developed the financial muscle to back projects that do not seem feasible. If the idea appeals to them they are even willing to overlook the financial viability of the project. They built Burj Khalifa to be the tallest building in the world. Earth was also a unique project that is a cluster of man made islands just off the coastline in the shape of different continents. The latest concept that is being pursued seriously in Dubai is a half submerged hotel, complete with underwater rooms. The architects have taken up the challenge to create the hotel with views of life below the surface of the sea.

The concept of the underwater hotel is being called the ‘Water Discus Hotel’. The final design developed for the futuristic hotel is of a building in the shape of a spaceship. The building seems to be perched on the water on three legs. It appears to be a villain’s lair from a James Bond movie. The concept is believed to be a novel idea that will have a wide appeal; hence several such hotels are planned across the region as it has the potential to attract the growing number of tourists in the region. Deep Ocean Technology (DOT) who have designed the hotel are confident that the vacationers on the beach and the sea will simply love it as it gives them the opportunity to explore the depths of the oceans. All the off shore exploration for oil has helped develop new cutting edge technology that makes it possible to create luxurious settings in the heart of the ocean. This new technology is coming in handy to make this project a reality confirmed a spokesperson for BIG InvestConsult, a Swiss company behind the development.

The design of the hotel building consists of two main discs, one above water and one below. Both the disc like structures are connected by three legs. All the stairways and lifts are placed in these legs to take the guests down in the water or take them up to the disc above. The underwater structure of the hotel is placed up to ten meters deep in the ocean and features 21 rooms for guests along with a submerged dive center and a bar. To improve the visibility outside the rooms a special lighting system will be installed.

It will illuminate the flora and fauna and the guests will have access to macro photography in their rooms that will enable them to zoom in and take a closer look at even the tiniest creatures. DOT, the designers of the hotel have taken all precautions to make the structure completely safe. The top disc, or the over water portion of the hotel is high enough to withstand a tsunami or any other flooding. The underwater disc is also designed to surface automatically in case of any danger. You need not worry even if you do not know swimming and can’t go scuba diving. You can simply check in to Water Discus Hotel and enjoy the deep sea marine life from up close.

Barbara Jacobs of Silk Road Weaves

The perfect style: a custom rug by Silk Road Weaves

There are many characteristics that make up a luxury home. Size, number of rooms, high end amenities, and design are only a few. With space and freedom to craft your home into whatever you desire, it is important to not overlook the simple details. Simple, yet necessary details that will take your home from high end to show stopping. Barabara Jacobs of Silk Road Weaves can get you to that level.

“Supportive color is beautiful color,” according to Barbara Jacobs, architectural color consultant and rug designer. Barbara’s philosophy that carries through all her design projects—including her rug designs—is that “color” should have a function as well as just be beautiful on its own.  As a color consultant for over 20 years and a rug designer for more than 6 years, Barbara has creative expertise encompassing more than just the floor. Special education in applied color psychology is just a small part of what she brings to any project.

Barbara’s original designs for Silk Road Weaves – vision + artistry in fine Tibetan rugs—offer a wide variety of colors and design styles. A fine artist at heart and in practice, in developing her rug designs she creates each piece as a work of art on its own. That’s why you don’t see simply “color-1, color-2, color-3” for each design.

However, each design is completely customizable

  • Color and fiber
  • Size and shape
  • Special requests and bespoke designs
  • Do you need more than one rug, having related designs but made in varied—even unusual— shapes?
  • If you want to omit the silk and make a rug all wool (or, the other way around), that’s possible as well.

Barbara Jacobs

Fibers used: Long-fiber Himalayan wool, silk, allo (giant Himalayan nettle), and other plant fibers. Barbara resides in Massachusetts and has design clients nationwide.

Contact
Barbara Jacobs
tel: 508-472-8105

Silk Road Weaves
www.silkroadweaves.com – bjacobs@silkroadweaves.com

Barbara Jacobs Color and Design
www.integralcolor.com –  bjacobs@integralcolor.com

Deep Glow Technologies Lights Up Your Dock

The world’s premier manufacturer of underwater dock lights, Deep Glow Technologies lights up your dock, seawall, pier, bridge or marina. It’s the perfect touch to bring the sea to life.

Light it Up: bring your dock to life with Deep Glow

Founded in 2006 in St. Petersburg, Florida, Deep Glow Technologies is made up of a design team that has years of experience in underwater lighting and other marine-related businesses with the intention to build the finest light available. The company invested heavily in research and product design, spending over a year rigorously testing prototypes before going to market with the current design. Deep Glow has emerged as the premier manufacturer of next generation, durable, innovative underwater lighting systems. The company is addressing the growing demand for quality lighting products for use at residential and commercial waterfront properties internationally, including primary and secondary homes, hotels, restaurants, yacht clubs, parks and entertainment venues.

Deep Glow Underwater Lights dramatically improve the enjoyment of all waterfront properties. These high quality, patented underwater lights illuminate the waterways at night and are excellent at attracting fish as underwater green fishing lights or as dock lighting for beauty. Deep Glow underwater lighting creates a family-friendly setting to enrich the night view with a glowing light that goes beyond the water’s edge creating a virtual aquarium that everyone can appreciate.  “It’s like having the Discovery Channel in your back yard!”

Simple to install, they can be thrown, dropped or placed in the water and will automatically right themselves on the bottom facing the water’s surface. When the sun goes down the fun starts as the Deep Glow lights illuminate fish and marine life. This unique positioning can be useful for a smooth entry while returning from boating or fishing at night, while also providing an extra level of security after hours. The lights operate automatically with a timer or photocell, making them conveniently easy to use and enjoy.  Additionally, Deep Glow lights are environmentally friendly using less power and providing more illumination than traditional above water dock lights.

Patented Deep Glow lights were specially designed for both residential and commercial use and they perform under various settings. From harsh saltwater locations and rough water environments to calm lakes and decorative ponds, our lights consistently provide satisfaction for our customers around all over the world.  Deep Glow lights are virtually maintenance free producing heat to combat marine growth and are easy to pull out of the water and clean, if necessary. Deep Glow Lights are available in four great colors: Deep Green – recommended for murkier waters such as bays and inlets. Bahamas Blue – recommended for clear waters like those in the Bahamas. • Pink – for holidays and specialty commercial applications. Crystal Clear – recommended for all other water types.

 

Deep Glow is truly “Lighting the World’s Waters” now in over 30 US States, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Dubai, Bahrain, Switzerland, Germany, Grand Cayman and the Bahamas. 888-871-3334

Spotlight: International Surrey Company

Pedal Time: 4-person Surrey

Heading to the beach can be a day adventure. The packing, the trip, the occasional venture down the boardwalk or nearby streets for some sight-seeing and food can all add up to a time consuming excursion. Not to mention if you have that curious child who wants to see and do everything. With International Surrey Company, this hour-dragging day can turn into a family fun event.

Featuring numerous styles of cycles, the Surrey Company provides Surrey cycles from around the world that are perfect for any recreational needs you may have (exercise is an added bonus). If you are heading out solo, one of their electric-hybrid trikes or bikes is ideal. Or take the whole family out on one of the Surreys. All Surreys which can accommodate two or more riders come fully equipped with a canvas awning, a child seat with a seat belt, and LED front head lamps in case you want to take an evening stroll.

Originating in 1970 in Galveston, Texas, the Surrey Company opened as Beach Bike Rental and operated rental locations in Kissimmee, Florida and Texas and had great success selling cycles to businesses and families nationwide. The company’s mission, to continuously update their cycles with the newest cycling technology, is why they are recognized as the leader in the Surrey industry..

Whether buying several Surreys for a rental business, or one for use around your neighborhood, International Surrey Company has got the product to get you anywhere you want to go, one pedal at a time.

International Surrey Company

Texas City, Texas 77591, 600 Gulf Freeway
1-800-765-7370

YI Designs Creates the Ultimate Yacht

First there was the yacht, then, thanks to Roman Abramovich’s $485 million Eclipse, the world was introduced to the super luxury yacht. Now there is a new toy in town, that is, if it ever gets built. One that, although not closely competing with Abramovich’s price range, offers a complete utopia to any passenger on board.

Yacht Island Designs  has taken ships to a new level and has created designs for yachts that feature each aspect of their name. Yes, that means a private tropical island that is situated on a giant-sized personal luxury yacht.

The Streets of Monaco design proposal.

 

The concept of the idea is not half as outrageous as the actual features on some of these vessels. A miniature volcano, flowing waterfall, mountain stream, and valley pool flanked by a series of small bamboo huts and shelter-providing palm trees, are some of the few things that are all set upon (and concealing) a cruise-ship-style deck.

Like many cruise ships, YI designed outlets for those who are looking for a little sea-wide adventure. On many ships an extendable deck can be deployed belowdecks via a fold-down hatch in the hull; this opening revealing stairs leading to shelters, seating and other detachable smaller sea-faring vessels for short off-ship excursions.

But YI Designs is not quite done yet – they propose to build the ultra-rich vessels they have yet to dream of, if they have the wealth to afford them. Concepts include a remake of the streets of Monaco, a Chinese sailing ship and a kind of abstracted Taj Mahal on the water.

Insane? Perhaps, but if there is a market, who knows – these may actually be constructed some day. “‘The Streets of Monaco’ is the first design proposal. The theme is based around the Mediterranean principality with the primary focus being the famous grand prix circuits,” says YI Designs.

Will this concept ever become real life? Who knows. But one thing is for sure, if it does, sign us up.

Let Nicaragua Be Your Second Home

Costa Rica’s neighbor to the north rolls out the red carpet for retirees and second-home buyers. By Melissa C. Gillespie

For years, Costa Rica has been the “it” place for international real estate investors and retirees. Now that the market in Costa Rica seems to have matured, Nicaragua, its neighbor to the north, is fast becoming a popular location for those second-home buyers and retirees who desire a coastal lifestyle at an affordable price. Lucky for them, the portfolio of oceanfront and ocean view choices continues to expand.

Peaceful Redonda Bay at Aqua Wellness Resort

Ranging from the eco-luxe Aqua Wellness Resort to the super-luxe Guacalito de la Isla, the central and southern Pacific coastlines have recently welcomed dozens of new developments. Other properties popping up along this stretch include Milagro del Mar, Montecristo, Pueblo Santa Fe, Tamarindo Beach & Ocean Estates, and many more.

Furthermore, Nicaragua has made a commitment to growth and economic security, with a number of laws designed to attract investors and foreign retirees. Nicaragua’s minister of tourism, Mario Salinas Pasos, says many of those benefits include substantial tax incentives. “Under the new laws, retirees and foreign residents can import up to $20,000 worth of household goods for their home, duty-free, [as well as] import and/or purchase construction materials for up to $50,000, tax free, for the construction of a house.”

Nicaragua wants to be your second home or your retirement destination, and its stunning oceanfront real estate opportunities also extend a warm invitation.

Aqua Wellness Resort

Aqua Wellness Resort is a new eco-luxe development perched on a forested hillside overlooking a perfect crescent beach on Nicaragua’s unspoiled Redonda Bay. This eco-friendly development north of San Juan del Sur has received much attention for its very progressive and stylish architecture.

The development offers 25 eco-friendly treetop villas that range in size from 1,150 to 1,500 square feet, and there are plans and space to add 16 more. The houses are built on pilings amidst the tropical forest and made of sustainable local wood and stone. Aqua’s villas feature the finest contemporary furnishings, state-of-the-art appliances, and spacious terraces with ocean and/or forest views. Most villas have multiple bedrooms, plunge pools, and separate kitchen/dining bungalows, making them ideal for families and extended visits.

The kitchen/dining bungalows are divine, featuring top-of-the-line appliances, granite countertops, and stunning views. But should you chose to put away the pots and pans (and we recommend you do) the property’s restaurant, Bromelia, is an open-air dining delight that overlooks the beach. Beyond the ambience, the food is flavorful and healthy, and Aqua’s cuisine features fresh local seafood, as well as produce from the chef’s organic farm on the island of Ometepe.

Elaborate paths wind through the trees, leading to the beach and an 1,100-square-foot yoga platform. Onsite yoga and wellness instructors offer classes in a variety of yoga techniques, cooking, and nutrition. Plus, the property’s hillside location will give you ample opportunities to get your heart rate up.

From the outdoor yoga pavilion to the custom spa to organic cuisine, Aqua combines wellness with a unique connectedness to nature. The privacy, amenities, and pricing should make Aqua a popular vacation home option. Aqua Wellness Resort villas start at $395,000. Aqua offers several vacation and wellness retreat options for those who prefer to simply visit.

 

Guacalito de la Isla

Guacalito de la Isla is a 1,670-acre sustainable resort development emerging from Nicaragua’s Emerald Coast. Homesites at Guacalito de la Isla have been arranged along fingers of land to take advantage of the best ocean views in the country while also preserving individual privacy, intimacy with the natural surroundings and the protection of important conservation areas. Some cradle the ridgelines, while others fringe the beach or the golf course.

Perched high on a forested hillside at Guacalito de la Isla is the neighborhood of La Reserva, a private residential enclave which will be home to 46 families. Homesites in the La Reserva neighborhood range from 27,000 square feet to 120,000 square feet.

Adjacent to La Reserva is Guacalito’s 32 Verdemar ocean view villas, which will offer a relaxed lifestyle at the beach with immediate access to golf and the Beach Club. Verdemar residents can choose from a three- or four-bedroom villa. Clustered in a charming neighborhood setting, the villas will offer master suites with ocean views, private pools, expansive terraces, lush interior courtyards, and maid or nanny’s quarters for added comfort and convenience.

Casona Mukul, a luxury boutique hotel set in Guacalito, will open in December 2012. While enjoying luxurious accommodations and service in one of the hotel’s 16 oceanfront villas or 23 hillside casitas, guests can experience spa treatments in The Spa at Mukul, play golf on the 18-hole course designed by David McLay Kidd, or relax on the resort’s four miles of pristine white sand beach, which are dotted with honeymoon beds and chaise lounges.

Casona Mukul and Guacalito are the creation of Don Carlos Pellas, one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in Central America, whose businesses include sugar, automotive, and Flor de Caña Rum. Future plans include a small eco-sensitive dock that will serve as a launch pad for oceanic adventures.

Guacalito is being called a “game changer” for Nicaraguan tourism and real estate. We agree. La Reserva homesites start at $400,000 and Verdemar villas start at $700,000. 

 

Milagro del Mar

Milagro del Mar Beach Club is currently under development within the existing Gran Pacifica Beach & Golf Resort enclave. Covering 2,500 acres, the Gran Pacifica’s homesites, condo developments, hotel, and rental properties have been carefully laid out, combining new urbanism with Spanish Colonial charm.

When fully developed, the Milagro del Mar community, a vision of U.S. developer Roger Keeling, will consist of more than 100 two- and three-bedroom condos, all with ocean views. Floor plans are spacious and feature an open layout, large terraces, tile floors, granite countertops, and fully-loaded kitchens. You won’t have to worry about importing furnishings for your abode–Milagro del Mar’s interior design group, NicaBella, offers several furniture packages.

Situated on more than three miles of gorgeous Pacific coastline, Gran Pacifica resort’s future plans include Nicaragua’s only 45-hole golf course. You can bring your clubs now, however, because several holes are currently open for play. If you’re ready to settle in at Gran Pacifica, there are a number of resales available in the development’s Las Perlas condos. Las Perlas features one- and two-bedroom condos with a third-bedroom lock-out option available with selected units, ranging in size from 506 square feet to 1,743 square feet. Homesites and casitas are also available within Gran Pacifica.Within the branded condo hotel resort, condominiums, condo-hotel suites, and private villas range from $199,000 to $499,000. Outside of the condo-hotel resort, homesites range from $40,000 to $199,000. 

Pelican Eyes Resort & Spa

Numerous oceanfront condominiums, townhomes, and sprawling estates dot the cliffsides surrounding the bay in the seaside town of San Juan del Sur. A stop here warrants a stay at Pelican Eyes Resort & Spa, which offers personalized hospitality, architectural flair, and spacious units ranging from approximately 900-square-foot studios to more than 2,500-square-foot, two-bedroom houses. Design elements include soaring ceilings, graceful arched windows, airy terraces, and exposed natural woods.

The recently renovated Tranquila spa, perched high on the hillside, offers a vast menu of treatments to soothe your body and relax your mind. In addition to the lush gardens, infinity pool, and two restaurants with stunning views, Pelican Eyes has a knack for planning and will arrange nearby day trips, sailing excursions, and romantic escapes.

You’ll feel at home at Pelican Eyes, most likely because it is home to only a lucky few. Unfortunately for the prospective ocean view homebuyer, all of the residential units have already been purchased; however, the development plans to release new units next year. For now, we recommend a visit. Rates start at under $200 in the tropical season and $240 in the high season. 

 

Tamarindo Beach & Ocean Estates

Vacation home seekers and retirees should put Tamarindo Beach & Ocean Estates on their radar. This beachfront community, located on the Central Coast approximately 30 minutes from the colonial city of Leon, has plans for 100 residential ocean and riverfront homes.

At the center of the plan, Tamarindo’s design and vision is to create a pedestrian-friendly and active community. From an ocean boardwalk with grass to multiple walkways and bike paths, Tamarindo will offer multiple opportunities for the active resident or visitor. The planned community will offer multiple amenities and services, including a hotel with 16 suites, restaurant, pool, weight room, lounging area, poolside bar, gift shop, parking, rental center, and administration. The “Red Snapper” Fishing lodge on the estuary with an attached marina will house fishing needs, and a nature reserve area is incorporated into the landscape plan. Homesites are currently available for purchase and are priced from $70,000 to $120,000 per oceanfront lot. Each comprises roughly a quarter acre.

Hacienda & Ecolodge Morgan's Rock

Seeing Nicaragua

Use a local tour guide company like ORO Travel to schedule your day trips and sightseeing activities in Nicaragua. According to the agency, the most popular requested day trip is the Granada City Tour. You’ll see why a visit to Nicaragua is incomplete without stopping in Granada, a city filled with of history and culture. A short boat ride from Granada, Jicaro Island Ecolodge is known as one of Nicaragua’s most upscale nature resorts. Set on a private island in Lake Nicaragua, this quiet respite is the ideal place to unwind and detach. Jicaro has spectacular views of the Mombacho Volcano and is surrounded by hundreds of tiny islands. We love that the resort is the only thing on the island, making it the ultimate in luxurious seclusion. Nine private casitas serve as the perfect setting for romantic escapes or group wellness retreats. Further down the coast and only 30 minutes from Costa Rica is the Pelican Eyes Resort and Spa in the charming fishing village of San Juan del Sur. During your stay, arrange for a trip on one of Pelican Eyes’ sailboats and explore the southern Pacific coastline aboard a 41-foot sloop. A full-day sailing trip includes swimming and beachcombing in the hidden Nicaraguan coastal bays of Brazilito and Costa Blanca, lunch served on a deserted beach, and wine and cheese at sunset. Also nearby is the Hacienda & Ecolodge Morgan’s Rock, which consists of 15 bungalows on a forested hill sloping toward the ocean. Be sure to include a farm-style breakfast in your stay; from collecting your own eggs to milking a cow, the experience is truly memorable. But, we must warn you: Once you taste the freshness of the farm-to-table food, you’ll begin to crave it.

The Details

Where to Buy All of these luxury residential developments are located on Nicaragua’s central and southern Pacific coastline. Aqua Wellness Resort, Guacalito de la Isla, Milagro del Mar, Montecristo, Pueblo Santa Fe, Tamarindo Beach and Ocean Estates

Where to Stay Hotel Plaza Colon (Granada),  Jicaro Island Ecolodge (Lake Managua/Granada), Pelican Eyes Resort & Spa (San Juan del Sur), Hacienda & Ecolodge Morgan’s Rock (north of San Juan del Sur), Hotel El Convento (León)

Who to Contact Ministry of Tourism, ORO Travel 

Fiji Bound: Royal Davui Resort

Fiji’s Royal Davui resort is a world of serenity rife with aquatic wildlife, warm and welcoming locals, and breathtaking beaches as far as the eye can see.  By Katie Botkin

Fiji is blessed with rivers and natural artesian springs and offers bountiful options for recreation on the water, as the nation’s more than 300 islands rise barely above sea level. Guests of the Royal Davui resort are introduced to this aqueous world almost immediately as they arrive by boat after a short trip by private plane from Nadi airport across Viti Levu, Fiji’s main island. Visitors of the more adventurous persuasion can go white water rafting through layered, misty canyons of the rural highlands of Viti Levu. Or, they can zipline over a river or go sea kayaking, snorkeling, or scuba diving. An introductory dive course take less than an hour, and even those who fear the deep may be comfortable enough to survey the blue starfish, the shy clownfish, and the fat sea cucumber on the ocean floor. The island is fringed with a coral reef bearing shades of yellow, pink, and white, plus its rainbow array of marine wildlife. At Royal Davui, color is everywhere.

Transfer boat via which guests arrive at Royal Davui

Visitors looking for romance should picnic on the resort’s exquisite sand quay, which is available according to the whim of the tides for one couple at a time. This sand spit, located a short boat ride from the resort, elegantly demonstrates the balance between exploration and serenity, between the normative state of things and luxury. Nature and indulgence are not always at odds, and the resort has been built around existing trees and seems well at ease with its surroundings, though it is a state of nature improved upon itself with invisible mosquito repellants and filters for the drinking water.

Tourism is the leading industry of Fiji, with the largest contingent visiting from nearby Australia. Beqa Lagoon, where Royal Davui lies, is no exception, and many of the local villagers work for hotels, with subsistence farming and fishing also supporting their communities.

Christopher Southwick, a fifth-generation Fijian who operates the resort on behalf of the Southwick family, explains that as the resort came to completion, its management held a hiring day in Beqa’s closest village, inviting all the surrounding villages to apply. “We wanted to give our neighboring villages the first chance to apply before we looked elsewhere,” says Christopher. After hiring, they brought in chefs from Australia to train the kitchen staff and other professionals to train the front office and restaurant staff, being careful not to over-train the staff so as to encourage them to maintain their relaxed Fijian hospitality and cultural identity.

In general, the resort has close ties with the local Fijian people, and it employs a total of 40 people from nearby villages who boat in every day. Another 20 or so live in the staff quarters on the island, and every Sunday, many attend a Methodist church service (indigenous Fijians are predominantly Methodist) conducted in Fijian on Beqa Island. Guests to the service are welcomed, as they are in most places in Fiji, with unassuming grace and a warm smile.

 

The resort’s food is about 90 percent local—some more local than others, since everything except the day’s catch and some of the fruit must be boated in, even if it is only from Beqa Island, which is less than two miles away. The majority of the taro is sourced from villages on Beqa Island. This means that the resort helps support local village livelihood while also providing fresh organic food for its guests. Such reassurances ease the conscience of the skeptical post-Colonial traveler to the third world, of which Fiji is still a part.

The resort’s relationship with the staff is far from typical. “We are very open with our staff and we really do run the resort with the feeling of an extended family all working together,” says Christopher. “We have regular staff meetings to ensure they have everything they need to make their jobs easier and that they are happy. They, in return, are very open toward us.” By extension, the staff is often open with guests, and, if engaged, will evoke deeply compelling personal anecdotes, often with the backstory that the resort’s management has personally helped to extract them from difficult situations.

This is an attitude shared by Christopher’s father Grahame Southwick, an abalone diver turned fisherman turned businessman. After years of making his living in the ocean, Grahame has discovered a passion in Hobie Cat racing and has taught several Fijian youth how to race the twin-hulled catamarans as well. Gus, the 18-year-old Fiji Youth Hobie Cat racing champion, whom Grahame picked up off the docks of Suva as a loitering youngster and taught to sail, now gives Hobie Cat lessons at the resort.

The ocean around the island is usually relatively calm, being protected by a large reef farther to sea that provides the barrier for Beqa lagoon. “The tides are very kind to Royal Davui,” says Christopher. “We have a great deal of respect for the water around us—it is our biggest asset. We do all we can to maintain the natural beauty of the lagoon.”

Aerial view of the island

At Royal Davui, guests may go out on a fishing boat to try to catch their own dinner. Farther out, the fishing guide will place lines behind the boat and cruise quickly enough to keep the lines taut. One afternoon, in the water obscured by the foam coming off the boat, shapes move through the water. It’s difficult to determine what they are, but one thing is certain: They are moving along with the boat. The guests laugh and point. “Dolphins!” they cry, as three of the creatures shoot from the water, leaping, arcing, and racing the boat. Afterwards, as the sun sets, the guests lounge and compare their tan or sunburn lines.

Grahame jokes that every shower a guest takes here will restore two years to his life, because the resorts’s mineral-heavy water comes from a sacred spring high on Beqa Island. Grahame acquired access to the spring by meeting with villagers and promising to pump down water to Beqa’s villages, in addition to supplying the resort via an underwater pipeline. There is more than enough water for everyone, but Royal Davui regulates how much fresh water it pipes in so that the runoff does not disturb the surrounding coral beds.

Royal Davui welcomes only guests over the age of 16. All accommodations feature sleeping pavilions, oversized bathrooms with Jacuzzi tubs and separate marble showers, two outdoor decks for private dining and lounging, a private plunge pool overlooking the ocean, and other amenities. Prices include food and some activities, with discounts available for stays of five nights and more. Between November 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013, couples staying longer than four days may also qualify for a free elopement-style wedding.

The Details Fiji is one of the more accessible destinations in the South Pacific, with daily flights from Los Angeles. Royal Davui will typically arrange complimentary plane/launch transfers from Nadi airport, with the additional option to helicopter from Nadi directly to the island.

Country French By the Sea

Hidden on the shores of beautiful Vancouver Island in British Columbia, where the emerald waters of the Salish Sea meet the gulf islands, the Country French-style Mille Fleurs, the prospective homeowner’s dream, is a breathtaking complement to its natural surroundings. By Anna Kasabian - photographs by Russ Heinl

When the owner of this breathtaking home and property first came here 11 years ago, the physical beauty of the place caught her heart and simultaneously served as the inspiration for creating this head-turning architectural masterpiece that so beautifully honors the land it stands on.

Not only is this property, with near 300-degree water views with two beaches, a magical find, but it also evokes a spiritual feeling of calm and natural beauty like no other property its owner has seen. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the property served as a safe haven for the First Nation’s People prior to the 1600s and is a somewhat a historical site. And being located on the tropical jet stream, it is also the most temperate climate in all of Canada.

“I can’t really explain it, says Bernadette Wolfswinkel, the homeowner. “People may come for a few days or a week, but they don’t want to leave. And I feel it myself. It is very Zen, very comforting.” She adds that this beautiful inlet fittingly ends at the world-renowned Butchart Gardens.

Miles Fleurs enjoys 300-degree views of the water from its peninsular location

One of the first things Wolfswinkel did was build what would become a guest cottage—she named it The Hobbit Mansion—which served as her home during the course of the decade-long building project. She called upon the talents of James Grieve Design LTD of Victoria to design the cottage, as well as her conservatory, called Orchid House.

The original home on the site, owned for 25 years by a German movie star, was razed, and Wolfswinkel commissioned Rick Schreiber, principal of Schreiber & Associates Architects of Scottsdale, with whom she has teamed on other homes through her family’s development company, to work with her here. Horticulturalist Jim Dawson, who has worked with Wolfswinkel’s company for 28 years, joined her on this project to coordinate the landscaping. He worked closely with the local landscape firm Rusnak Gallant Ltd. to design and build gardens and pathways, with all efforts focused on adding a plethora of new views at every bend and turn and through every window.

Schreiber sited the house in the same spot as the original—at the tip of this little peninsula—and designed it to complement the carriage house and conservatory. The styling and architectural details were decided upon after Wolfswinkel pored over many books and old French magazines that the architect had collected over the years. She segregated all of the material she found that would suit her theme, including those that would be recreated with highly specialized craftspeople, or were antiques that could be purchased. It was fortuitous that Vancouver Island has some of the best craftsmen from all over the world living and working on the island, and their talents and knowledge were much appreciated on this project.

Schreiber knew how to hunt down interesting antiques that would dovetail perfectly into the Country French design scheme. One of the prized finds is a French antique coal-burning fireplace surround.

“I wanted the house to have modern amenities, but [also] to look like it had been here for 100 years,” Wolfswinkel says, noting that hers is a true “sun-catcher house” with rooms angled to catch the day’s changing light and the varied views.

By the end of construction, the structures and all living spaces comprised a wonderful stew of reclaimed materials, and custom reproductions that contribute to the charm and warmth of the house. For example, when the original home was taken down, the old wooden beams were saved for reuse here. And an original prison door, Number 15, that was once used in a movie the first owner had starred in, was salvaged in the razing and is now the door to—of all things—a powder room. “On the inside of the door, there are marks that look as though the prisoner was counting the time he had left,” Wolfswinkel notes.

 

There are seven styles of custom-made doors throughout the home, all reproduced in Italy, and the door to the kitchen pantry is an exquisite antique from France. All of the wood flooring is reclaimed American Elm from the island. Even some of the unusual plantings were saved, such as the giant cedar that was started from a seedling—now 30 feet high— and the unusual arbutus grove that remains flourishing.

The nearly four-acre property is comprised of the 2,100-square-foot guest cottage, which has three bedrooms and two full baths, and the 13,000-square-foot main house, each of whose five bedrooms has a private bath and individual terrace. The main house also has three additional half baths, a billiards room, a wine cellar, and a tasting room. Both the main house and cottage have pantries off the kitchens as well. In addition, Orchid House is, as Wolfswinkel explains, a getaway within the getaway. “The conservatory is as great a place to go and read as it is to listen to music, dance, or head over to have wine and desserts when I am entertaining,” she says. Plans also exist for a caretaker’s house and a two-car garage.

To maintain a casual country feeling, Schreiber kept the main floor living space open as a great room/country kitchen and added seven fireplaces with dreamy spun-stone chimneys that twist up off the slate roof. He also introduced a remarkable 17th century antique fireplace from France and added a wood-burning pizza oven to the kitchen.

The landscaping plan executed by Rusnak Gallant Ltd. focused first on opening the overgrown areas that obliterated the views, then followed with plantings and paths punctuated by stepping stone patios, all adding color and texture to the land. “I wanted to create a story—one where different views were revealed,” says principal Twyla Rusnak. “To accomplish that, I designed a series of gardens, including a formal garden closest to the main house…The property was planted so that the views changed with the seasons and also by the sections with the different water views.”

The planting mix includes annuals and perennials, a cutting garden, topiaries, and a multi-colored tea rose garden. And with the temperate climate, Rusnak also successfully introduced apple, pear, and apricot trees.

“As you move away from the house, the gardens and plantings require less maintenance. The owner loves flowers and wanted flowers blooming all the time,” explains Rusnak. They add just one more layer to this breathtaking home’s already astounding appeal. Mille Fleurs is available for weekly rentals, weddings, or events. Price available upon request. 480-403-4010

Laluna: Paradise in the Caribbean

A once in a lifetime opportunity currently exists to purchase a residence in an unparalleled piece of paradise in the Caribbean, which represents a five- star site often searched for but rarely found. 

Complete serenity at Laluna

Located on the dramatic coastline of Morne Rouge, and conveniently just 10 minutes away from both the capital St George’s and the  Maurice Bishop International Airport, Laluna Estate is a very private and exclusive villa development nestled on 25 acres of prime waterfront land, designed by two acclaimed Italian architects to offer a warm and intimate atmosphere where you can enjoy the casual and unique Caribbean lifestyle.

Laluna resort opened ten years ago with 16 suites, an Italian restaurant, an Asian Spa and a beach front yoga pavilion, and immediately established itself as the premiere boutique resort on the island attracting jet set clientele from all over the world. In October 2011 both the Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Fodor’s included Laluna in their list of the 100 Best Hotels in the World.

The new development consists of seven- four and five bedroom villas, all uniquely designed, currently under construction and completion date of December 2012. Also available on the Estate are one and two acre lots where landowners can be as involved with the building process as much as they like, employing their own architects or engaging our Estate Management team.

Buying real estate on the island of Grenada is a fairly straightforward process. Grenada’s real estate laws are designed to encourage foreign investments and to protect them after the purchase is made.

At Laluna Estate there are some special incentives to promote tourism on the island. In fact, the buyer of one of the villas will be able to take advantage of tax exemptions and concessions granted exclusively to Laluna Estate, that makes the investment in one of the residences even more attractive.

The headaches of second-home ownership are replaced with services and amenities only found in the world’s finest resorts, and with the opportunity of an extra income. Villa owners can benefit from a management contract with Laluna and rent their villas while not using them. Laluna Estate has partnered with Camper Nickolson Marina to include a boat berth in St. George’s Harbor in the price of the villa.

Own a piece of paradise

With only seven residences available, and over 30 partnership agreements with the leaders in the Italian design industry, including G&D Cucine, Marazzi Tiles, Tre-P&Tre-Piu internal doors, Oikos external doors, Duravit/Axor bathroom sanitary and fixtures, Biticino electrical and LeMa Mobile furniture, the quality of the villas are of the highest standard.

For more info: Bernardo Bertucci bb@laluna.com

History Meets Nature at D’aborde Dieu

Laid back serenity at DeBordieu

South Carolina coastal legend claims that in 1777, when the Marquis de Lafayette made landfall in America, he looked around and exclaimed, “this land is so beautiful, it must be the borderland of God,” or in French, D’aborde Dieu.  Nothing much has changed since then, except for a carefully planned ocean-front residential community that has done a superb job of balancing its natural beach and creek settings with its man-made club amenities.

As one of the oldest coastal communities on the East Coast, DeBordieu, locally pronounced “Debbie-doo,” was a summer home to many wealthy rice plantation owners before the Cival War, or as we call it in the south, the War of Northern Aggression. When development began 40 years ago, every opportunity was taken to preserve the natural beauty and history of DeBordieu, which is one of the reasons it is still attractive today to those seeking a primary residence or vacation home.

Conveniently located on South Carolina’s Coast, just north of Charleston in the Pawelys Island area, DeBordieu offers its residents a unique combination of laid-back serenity and fun social activities, within arms’ length of hospitals, airports, shopping and fine dining. In addition to the wide beach and miles of meandering creeks for boating and fishing, DeBordieu Club amenities offer private Pete-Dye Golf,  ocean-front fine dining, and tennis, surrounded by thousands of acres of nature preserves, and protected by a 24 hour security gate. Uncrowded and very peaceful, this exclusive, beautiful, low-key, coastal hide-away makes me think that Lafayette was right, it is D’aborde Dieu!

About Troi Kaz: From Charleston SC to NC’s Outer Banks, Troi Kaz has been involved in the sales and marketing of coastal communities since 1986. Troi sells real estate on site at DeBordieu, just north of Charleston, SC, and lives in Pawleys Island. Troi started blogging a few years ago and is thrilled to finally be able to incorporate her USC Journalism degree with her real estate career. Contact Troi at TroiKaz@DeBordieu.com, 843-455-4523

Set Sail with Gocek Yachts

Established in 1990 as a yachting and service agency, and located at one of the most beautiful natural harbors of the east Mediterranean, Gocek Yachts provides many itineraries along the Aegean and Mediterranean coastline in Turkey between Fethiye, Marmaris, Bodrum and Antalya. The region is famous for a selection of beautiful sheltered bays. Often called the Turquoise Coast or Turkish Riviera, is an ideal if not one of the best destinations for a cruising vacation.

Gocek Yacht Service is operating as agent for motorboats, turkish motor sailors, as well as serving the Superyachts who rely on our wide experience and highest quality. Traditional turkish motor sailors and motor yachts are our main business and we offer an outstanding large portfolio.

The wide scope of our professional and efficient service will make you feel as safe as you would be at home. Our experience in all aspects of tourism as well as invaluable local knowledge is at your disposal and GYS staff will be delighted to serve you 7 days 24 hrs.

We provide the best service for the needs of their VIP guests in all harbors of the Turkish coast either in a short period or longer with our local knowledge at high standards and perfect quality in each harbor where you are in Turkish waters.

For more information contact: +90 252 645 1730, gysyachting@superonline.com, www.gocekyachtservice.com

Profile: AnnMaria Baldine

AnnMaria Baldine

It was a fortuitous journey that led AnnMaria Baldine—founder of Washington, DC’s Gallery la Musa—from studies for a career in illustration and advertising to rug design. Her concern for the well-being of weavers and their children, however, is no accident. She has been committed to service since childhood. “It is very important to me,” she says, “that children are protected. GoodWeave® is a wonderful way to make sure they aren’t exploited.”

Although AnnMaria grew up in upstate New York, the hub of the rug industry, she never considered rug design as a career. After studying illustration and advertising at the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology, happenstance led to a job as a textile designer for Mohawk and Alexander Smith. There, in the iconic company’s design studio Ann Maria learned the art of Axminster and Wilton design. As she puts it, “I was the new kid on the block and it was a great learning experience.”

Today her gallery not only shows her colorful and energetic rugs, but also selected ceramic, glass and jewelry. It is the rugs, however, that steal the show. Pompeii, an all-wool cut-and-loop pile rug is her signature piece. The detailed mosaic patterns and the brilliant reds, golds and teals are, she says, the result of a “Wow!” moment she had while looking at images of the ruins of Pompeii. One of her earliest design challenges, and perhaps the most fun, she recalls, was an assignment to design a sea-themed piece for a child’s room. It was a circular rug in two dozen colors with sea creatures of all kinds. “Hand drawn and no repeats,” she says. “That project was fun!”

There is a boldness to her designs, something she cultivates and her clients appreciate. She points to Ionian Isle, a hand tufted 100 percent wool piece in deep blues, reds and yellows. “I wanted to create the feeling of the wind, sea and sky,” she explains. Inspiration comes from many places. The geometric patterns and vibrant colors of Mondrian and the clean lines and simplicity of Giacometti are some of her influences. So is her environment. For example, she is contemplating a collection inspired by a trip to Moldova where she photographed patterns of light and shadow on old architecture. “As an artist you have to have a constant awareness of your surroundings.”

For AnnMaria Baldine, “awareness of surroundings” also has a moral component. The modest rug designer for diplomats, ambassadors and Saudi princes has also worked with a small, women-run factory in Tibet and insists that women, the literal and metaphoric mothers of the planet, need to help each other.

*Images from AnnMaria’s Gallery

 

For more information on AnnMaria’s fabulous creations, visit www.annmariabaldine.com. (202) 256-2376

A One-Of-A-Kind Alaskan Estate

This amazing Alaskan property is truly one of a kind. From its imported stone exterior to the stately Mahogany built-ins with hand carved details, no expense was spared in the design and execution of this exemplary retreat. The stately entry has a 4 story custom limestone and mahogany staircase, Schonbeck and Swarovski crystal chandeliers, and Bizazza tile inlays into marble with Jerusalem limestone floors. The main and carriage house boast 4 full kitchens, including the main chef’s kitchen, and comes with 25 appliances, 2 islands, and 3 full preparation areas.

 

 

The elegant flowing design gives an airy feel to the grand space. The extensive Mahogany trimmed windows enhance the unsurpassed view of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife refuge, which makes up the estates back yard. The property unfolds on four floors, three of which stand on their own with their own kitchens, laundry rooms, and private baths. They are all accessible by spiral staircase or Otis elevator for ease and convenience. The entire estate features state-of-the-art-security, Crestron computer controlled lighting and operating systems. The endless pool and 2 custom tiled spas provide relaxation and recreation.

Care to enjoy a movie or find the right bottle of wine? Just step inside your own theater or climate controlled wine room. Each unique feature of this magnificent estate must be seen in person to fully appreciate.

For information please contact Charlie Whitlock

Charlie Whitlock

Coldwell Banker Best Properties

Phone: (907) 562-7653

Fax: (907) 250-5556

Top Luxury RE Market: Malibu

50 Top Luxury Real Estate Markets in the USA: Malibu, CA

From the outside looking in Malibu has a very high profile due, in part, to the paparazzi and the media shining a spotlight on its glamorous surface.  Certainly, it is known as getaway for many Hollywood celebrities and titans of business.  The sitcom, Two and a Half Men takes place here. Even some Malibu real estate agents became local celebrities when they were featured on the reality TV show, Million Dollar Listing.  But, beneath the surface Malibu has the intrinsic values of a small, rural California coastal beach town with a Mediterranean climate and a close-knit community.  This, plus its close proximity to the diverse amenities of Los Angeles and easy access to the entire globe, makes Malibu one of the top 50 luxury real estate markets in the world.

According to Irene Dazzan-Palmer, “What makes the lifestyle in Malibu so extraordinary is the caliber of people you meet or run into daily.  With great people and outdoor living Malibu is like ‘Aspen at the beach’. One day you can go for a walk on the beach, the next day you can go hiking in the mountains.  You rarely need to leave town because there are so many wonderful shops and restaurants close by. It is wonderful to spend time in Los Angeles.  But, I always love to get back to ‘The BU’ as the locals call Malibu”.

Irene partners with her son, Sandro Dazzan, who was recently honored by Forbes Magazine as one of the ‘30 under 30 (years old)’ for closing $100 million in home sales in 3 years, including Malibu’s 2011 highest).  Sandro says, “In Malibu, you grow up in tune with your environment, especially if you are into water sports.  Surfing clears your head.  The water is always moving and is teeming with sea life. Sometimes you swim with dolphins or watch the silhouettes of pelicans diving to catch fish against a backdrop of an amazing sunset”.

Chris Cortazzo explains it this way, “Contrary to what many assume, the Malibu lifestyle is not pretentious. It is casual and comfortable. It may be sophisticated, but the hype about pretentiousness is false.  It is not about what you have, because not everyone here is rich.  It is about being nice. The ocean is definitely a grounding force; it has incredible energy that can bring out the best in you.”

Jeff Certow says, “In the summer, Malibu is besieged with tourists which is great for local businesses.  Come Labor Day, however, the entire town breathes a sigh of relief and celebrities can once again return home because the locals do not hassle them.  Everyone gets along here in this small town; it just feels normal”.

 

Malibu does have its private gated enclaves such as the famous Malibu Colony. But, very few of the 12,500 residents actually live right on the beach. According to Jim Rapf, “Although, it is true that some beach front residents own a section of the beach up to the mean high tide line, most of the beaches in Malibu are open to the public. The town itself actually encompasses 21 miles of coastline”.

Shen Schultz points out that, “With fewer homes right on the water, these homes generally hold their value because they are usually in demand”.  Yet, living right on the beach does not appeal to many who treasure their privacy. Jack Pritchettsays, “Some people prefer the seclusion and solitude of the canyons in the mountains.  The tranquility in the hills means no neighbors and large gardens. Besides, you can drive by the ocean any time you go into town”.

According to Ellen Francisco, “One of Malibu’s biggest draws is the public schools.  There is tremendous parental and community support for the schools here both in volunteer time and in private funding of projects, activities and sports programs. For example the music department is outstanding. Musicals at the high schools are comparable to professional performances”.

Marcus Beck says “The public schools in Malibu are comparable to private schools. Families here have the same values.  Parents spend time in the classroom; they will help grade tests, for example to free up the teachers to concentrate on other things. Fundraisers are very successful and help to provide Malibu kids with an excellent education. The indoor-outdoor lifestyle that makes Malibu so attractive to adults and kids alike, also enriches the children’s education because there are so many outdoor activities”.

Mike Cunningham, says, Malibu definitely has a small town feel that is very much family oriented. The weather is wonderful and it is just gorgeous.  There is quite a diversity of successful people who live here from the entertainment industry, to the sports industry to business.  Yet, they all have something in common. Once people move to Malibu they do not want to move away!”

Photos Are Courtesy of Top Local Agents & Brokers Interviewed for This Article
To see previous Top 50 Luxury Markets, click here to see properties for sale in Malibu, CA Properties for sale in Malibu

Tee Time in Puerto Rico

A favorite among American travelers for its accessibility and beautiful beaches, Puerto Rico is fast becoming one of the Caribbean’s top golf destinations as well. By Brian McCallen, Photograph by Joann Dost

When Columbus singled out Puerto Rico for its beauty, golf had already been established as a favorite pastime in Europe. These many centuries later, Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth where English is widely spoken, has reasserted itself as one of the Carib-bean’s top golf destinations.

You don’t need a passport to enter Puerto Rico, but you will need your A game at two brilliantly revived courses—plus one striking newcomer—that combine to offer visiting players and savvy investors plenty of options east and west of San Juan.

Beachfront Suite at Dorado Beach

Dorado Beach Resort and Club Conceived by Laurance S. Rockefeller in the late 1950s as a back-to-nature playground for the well-to-do, Dorado Beach, located 45 minutes west of San Juan, was one of the first full-fledged golf resorts in the Caribbean. A visionary developer and conservationist who saw an opportunity to build a recreational “Great Park” in the tropics, Rockefeller hired Robert Trent Jones, Sr., the dean of the trade, to build a pair of courses on a 1,400-acre plantation on the island’s lush north coast.

More than 50 years after Rockefeller transported 150 friends (each one a millionaire) to the resort’s gala opening, Robert Trent Jones, Jr., who as a teenager had toured the course during construction, has returned to direct a $6.2 million restoration of Dorado’s East Course. “It’s a treat for me at this point in my career to have the opportunity to refresh some of my father’s most notable work,” Jones says. “The restoration…has enhanced the natural beauty, playing conditions, and flexibility that my father had originally envisioned.”

Working from his dad’s original notes and sketches, Jones set about rediscovering a course that had fallen into ruin. After an extensive tree-pruning program thinned out the layout’s jungle-lined corridors, the Atlantic Ocean became visible from 15 of the 18 holes. Numerous lost features were revealed during the cleanup, from specimen trees to water hazards.

Reopened in November 2011, the East Course, a veritable museum of the senior Jones’s work, is now better than when it was ranked among the best courses in the islands. The runway-style tees have been restored, the elevated greens rebuilt, the sculpted bunkers restyled, and the fairways widened and resurfaced. In 2012, Jones, Jr. will return to touch up Dorado’s West Course, a shorter, sportier version of the East Course. Visitors can also access the property’s Pineapple and Sugarcane courses (formerly the North and South courses at Cerromar Beach, respectively).

In December 2012, the resort will unveil a new Ritz-Carlton Reserve on the site of Rockefeller’s original beachfront hotel. More intimate and luxurious than a typical Ritz-Carlton, the Dorado Beach Reserve, designed according to LEED Silver standards, will feature 115 rooms spread across 50 acres and a mile of beachfront. The resort will include Spa Botanico, a new Beach Club, a Wind and Wave Center headed by Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ambassadors of the Environment, and celebrity chef restaurants. The 11-mile Rockefeller Nature Trail, Watermill water park, and fitness and wellness center are already in place.

The resort’s real estate offerings are led by the Ritz-Carlton Reserve West Beach Residences, a limited series of two- to four-bedroom oceanfront condos. These units range from 2,204 to 4,140 square feet and are priced from $2.5 million.

Dorado Beach East is a well-established residential neighborhood with custom homes priced from $1.2 million.

Until the new hotel opens, accommodations are available at the Plantation Resort Residences, its spacious three- and four-bedroom condos overlooking fairways, mountains, and ocean. These units, available in four different floor plans, are available starting at $830,000.

Beach front swimming pool at the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort

Bahia Beach Resort & Golf Club Fronting a two-mile crescent of sandy beach adjacent to El Yunque, the only rain forest in the U.S. National Park System, Bahia Beach Resort is a master-planned, 483-acre community with a 139-room St. Regis hotel on site. Occupying a former coconut plantation, Bahia Beach is dotted with 100-foot palms and fringed by thick stands of almond, sea grape, and flamboyant trees. Colorful songbirds and iguanas inhabit the surrounding forest.

Tucked away on the island’s northeast coast 30 minutes from San Juan, Bahia Beach is anchored by its enticing Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed course. On a preexisting public course that was no match for its superb location, Jones and his team superimposed an entirely new design on the site.

Water is a strong component on this subtly contoured layout—nearly every hole skirts a lagoon, challenging players to sacrifice power for accuracy. A typical hole at Bahia Beach has water on the left, thick jungle to the right, and a slim fairway pinched by upswept bunkers in the landing area. The slick, undulating greens are well protected by sand and water. Five sets of tees offer plenty of options. The key to enjoying the course is selecting the correct markers for your ability level.

Opened to acclaim in 2008, the golf course reaches its pinnacle at the final three holes, each of which is flanked to the right by the ocean. The 17th, a long par 3 that plays to a green perched above the beach, is a stunner, as is the home hole, a dazzling par 4 straddled by a lagoon and the sea. Jones, a true aesthete, created a greenside bunker at the 18th that is an extension of the beach. Players can tally their scores in the club’s open-air beachfront clubhouse.

The well-appointed accommodations at the St. Regis feature spectacular views of the sea or rain forest from their private terraces. In addition to its 24-hour butler service, the St. Regis, opened in November 2010, offers a Remede Spa and Fitness Center, three restaurants (including Fern, a splendid Jean-Georges Vongerichten dining establishment), transportation in a chauffeured Bentley, and other extras.

Bahia Beach has a variety of residential properties available. On a private island within the community are 26 branded St. Regis estate homes set on half-acre to 1.5-acre lots. The approximate starting price for these homes, which range from 6,000 to 10,000 square feet in size, is $3.6 million. Las Cabanas, a group of oceanview townhomes, comprises two-story, three-bedroom residences, each with a small studio, four baths, and a terrace. Prices range from $2,150,000 to $2,750,000. The 29 units at Las Ventanas, ranging in size from 1,680 square feet in Ventanas I ($745,000) to 3,300 square feet for a Penthouse in Ventanas II ($2.4 million), are within walking distance of the beach. Lastly, Las Verandas offers 90 two- and three-bedroom villas ranging in price from $700,000 to $1,641,500.

The green on Royal Isabela's first hole

Royal Isabela Seventy-five miles west of San Juan in Puerto Rico’s northwest corner is Royal Isabela, one of the most spectacular new golf courses to debut in the Caribbean in many years. Developed by brothers and former tennis stars Charlie and Stanley Pasarell, this one-of-a-kind layout sprawls across rolling tableland 200 feet above the frothy Atlantic Ocean.

The centerpiece of a 426-acre resort community, the course is marked by sharp elevation changes, limestone outcrops, and natural sand dunes. Broad clifftop fairways and sod-faced bunkers create a multitude of strategies for each shot, as do the brisk trade winds. “Tropical Scotland” is how Stanley describes the course, adding, “If the Open Championship ever leaves the British Isles, this could be the venue.” At full stretch—7,667 yards, par 73—Royal Isabela is one tough coconut, though staggered sets of forward tees offer graduated challenges to higher handicappers.

Observant players will detect a sense of naturalness at Royal Isabela. During the construction phase, the majority of the shaping was done by hand, reflecting the developers’ desire to tread lightly on the land. Natural lakes were integrated into the design of the course, as were deep chasms that call for death-or-glory shots. Conceived as a sustainable development, more than 20,000 native trees and indigenous plants were propagated and grown in on-site nurseries, using seeds and cuttings gathered on the property.

Aided by David Pfaff, a former Pete Dye associate, the Pasarells let the existing landforms dictate the course routing. “It’s an unbelievable piece of land,” says Charlie. “We spent years walking the property until we uncovered a golf course.” Recognizing that resort golf should, above all, be fun, the Pasarells built plenty of entertainment into their design. For example, there’s an infinity-edge green that appears to float on the distant sea, an atoll-like island green, plus a clifftop double green that serves the 12th and 14th holes. There’s also a quirky original feature: The sixth hole, with two separate fairways and two separate greens, can be played either as a par 4 or a par 5. (The brothers couldn’t agree and so they built both options.)

In April 2012, Royal Isabela will unveil a lodge with 20 guest casitas. Additional amenities will include a clubhouse, restaurant, swimming pool, tennis courts, and a spa and fitness center. The property also has an organic farm, 27 miles of hiking trails, and world-class surfing.

Royal Isabela’s home sites, ranging in size from one to two acres, are spaced around the golf course and overlook the ocean. Lots start at $2 million. Each Fairway Villa provides over 1,500 square feet of living space and features two master suites, a covered terrace, and a plunge pool. Villas start at $1 million.

Bromley Caldari Architects Makes Over a Fire Island Home

A weekend home on New York’s Fire Island gets a thoughtful makeover, bringing the island’s coveted seascape into full view from nearly every stylish nook and cranny. By Anna Kasabian, Photographs by  Christopher Weil

When you’ve got waterfront property on the dreamy lick of land known as Fire Island, a popular escape for city dwellers in New York, the relationship you create with your home and that endless ocean view is really what it’s all about. “And when we create that perfect harmony of home and place, as we did here, we call it ‘oceantricity,’” says R. Scott Bromley of Manhattan’s Bromley Caldari Architects. Bromley and his business partner, Jerry Caldari, get kudos from their clients for achieving that perfect harmony with their simple, thoughtful architectural solutions. In the case of this Fire Island home, those solutions took a charming, if slightly dated, little getaway and stripped away all of the barriers between it and the magnificent light and intoxicating views of sand, sea grass, and water that surround it. The answer was as simple and pure as the setting—glass goes up and walls come down.

Bromley Caldari Architects gave the Fire Island home a fresh new look

The homeowners—Susan, Pamela, and their daughter, Lea—could not be happier with the results. They make the pilgrimage from their year-round home in TriBeCa every weekend from May through October, and then intermittently through the first of every new year. “Basically, when we are away from our house, we experience withdrawal,” Susan says.

When the couple first went to look at it when it was for sale, upon entering the front gate they saw the house, but it was the cutout of the breezeway—basically a hole in the middle of the house—that caught their attention. “It is an amazing view that leads you to the ocean,” Susan says, “ …like a pathway to serenity.” She notes, too, that she and Pamela love the simplicity of this little beach box of a house.

“It’s not too big and it’s not too small,” she says. “It’s sleek, modern, and functional, but most of all, we love that it opens to the ocean from every room; you can get stereo sound of the ocean everywhere here.”

When it was time to find an architect to work with, they turned to Bromley’s firm. “I heard amazing things about [Bromley], and [those things] turned out to be understatements,” Susan says.

The couple’s goal was to preserve the integrity of the original vision for the structure but also to bring in more light. “We wanted to see the ocean from every southern window, even if we were sitting down,” she says.

The firm accomplished all of this by introducing larger window surfaces, removing what Bromley characterizes as “a lugubrious deep soffit,” and transforming a tiny three-foot balcony into more comfortable, usable space by doubling its width.

“It was an interesting-looking home, but it did not give you access to the water views,” Bromley says. “There were 10-foot ceilings, but then little slits for windows.”

There are two bedrooms on the lower level, which now maximizes beach views. The main living space, including a reconfigured, updated kitchen and bath and a master bedroom and living room, comprise the upper level. The two floors are joined by an open spiral staircase.

With the lower-level bedrooms a mere 10 feet wide, Bromley created the illusion of expanded space by building out a bay window in each. Now, when you bed down for an afternoon post-beach nap, the sky, sand, and rolling foam are framed in the view.

The original architect for the vintage ‘60s house, Bromley explains, was the New York firm Bates Masi Architects. “[Principal] Harry [Bates] is the original upside-down architect, known for putting the bedrooms on the lower level to capture views,” Bromley says. Inside rooms got a bit of a makeover, one that updated with sensitivity to a lifestyle that cherished the casualness planted so firmly in the bones of the place.

Kitchens interior

The plan for updating the kitchen was tied to opening views, as well as improving views and space in the master bath. Ultimately, the two rooms were reconfigured so as to also expand the bathroom and put the shower and deep tub center stage so that occupants could enjoy the beach view. A place for the shy and inhibited? Not so much.

The multi-toned green glass tiles were the homeowners’ choice. “They sometimes winter in St. Bart’s, and this earthy combination reminds them of how the deep green-blue waves lighten up just as they hit the shoreline,” Bromley says. “Before we joined the tiles together, we chopped the squares so the pattern would look more organic,” he adds.

In the new layout, the kitchen, which had taken up a big square of the second-level space, became a smaller, compact, more functional galley workspace. It is open to the dining area and the living room, and those all-important views in the frame left to right, room to room.

To accommodate the limited square footage, and to avoid having a door swinging into the space, pocket doors were installed to segregate the five-foot-wide bathroom from the adjacent space. Other updating details included a new knotty pine floor, the addition of a multi-colored slate floor in the foyer, refurbishing the backyard swimming pool, and re-siding the house in cedar.

“We used stacked panels for the siding and attached them with screws placed in a pattern,” Bromley says, adding that the technique lent a bit of texture and visual interest to the frame.

The house will weather well with the sun, sand, and four seasons, blending more and more into the beach scene as time passes. And inside, this family will continue to clock the short season of summer days with visiting friends—Bromley among them—and simple goals, like beach walks and picnics in the sand.

4001 North Ocean Drive

Intimately scaled, thoughtfully placed and individually yours, 4001 North Ocean Drive is the essence of carefree oceanfront living. Defined by low-key elegance, this incomparable ocean enclave offers direct access to 300 feet of soft sand beach, complemented by exclusive resident-only amenities.  Surrounded by native tropical landscaping is a tranquil oceanfront pool, relaxation deck with spa and scenic oceanfront fitness center—all reserved entirely for you. This lifestyle is exclusive yet effortless, with services that exceed expectations.

Outstanding private and public courses are conveniently located nearby, including Country Club of Florida, Pinetree Golf Club, Adios Golf Club, The Gulf Stream Country Club and The Boca Raton Resort & Club. Known as a golf mecca world-wide, the Palm Beaches is home to more than four dozen courses—so you never have to go far for a premium golf match. For a change of pace, there are two challenging executive Par 3 courses, The Little Club and St. Andrews just minutes from 4001 North Ocean.  Throughout the area you’ll find an excellent selection of fine, established marinas. Less than two miles down the street is a full service marina featuring long-term and overnight wet dockage and rack storage at Marina Delray. There are boat slips for vessels of every size, ship stores, fuel and much more.

Along the highly coveted coastline of Gulf Stream, prime oceanfront for new development is a rarity. Indeed, more than 30 years have passed since the last new residential offering. Careful zoning and thoughtful preservation will limit future opportunities. For those who have longed for modern design and conveniences in an area that—until now—has had limited development, 4001 North Ocean is exactly what you have been waiting for. This is a moment to invest in both your future and your present. This is the moment to change the way you enjoy life.

Priced from $1.7 million

Contact

561-450-7494
4001 North Ocean Blvd
Gulf Stream, FL 33483

 

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