Building Your Dream Home in the Caribbean, Do You Dare?

BUYING A PLOT OF LAND AND BUILDING A HOME IN THE CARIBBEAN IS THE BEST WAY TO GET EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT, IT IS ALSO A VERY EFFECTIVE WAY TO ADD VALUE TO YOUR INVESTMENT, PARTICULARLY IN ANTIGUA.

New homes designed with a modern, contemporary feel are not readily available in Antigua so once built they can be sold at a premium.

Sure, it can feel like a daunting endeavour, but it really is easier than you might think. Especially in Antigua and Barbuda where the Luxury Locations team are there to help you every step of the way.

First they will nd you the right piece of land, and then they will help you to build your dream home! Owners Nadia and Sam Dyson, have lived and worked in Antigua for over 17 years and have built up a network of trusted professionals who they can recommend to their clients, to ensure good service and a quality build. So you simply choose your location and let them help you gure out the rest.

Sarah and Carl Turpin did just that. ey found their plot of land, and custom designed their dream holiday home in the Reeds Point development on the beautiful twin island nation of Antigua & Barbuda. Luxury Locations chatted to Sarah about their experience and how much they love their new home.

Why did you pick Antigua?

We chose Antigua because, we’ve been to several di erent islands in the Caribbean, and it just stood out as being particularly beautiful, we love the general way of life and the way the people are really relaxed and friendly and we just really engaged with it. It’s also an easy ight from the uk which is a bonus.

What made you choose Reeds Point?

Reeds Point just has the most spectacular views. It’s just wide open sea and when you look down at it, it’s just like moving art, the clarity changes and the shades of blue and that’s why we chose it, we fell in love with it the rst time we walked up there.

How did you come up with the name of your new holiday home?

e rst time Carl and I visited the site the air was actually full of lovely white butter ies and so Villa Papillon (the latin for butter y) was born, it was that simple.

What were you aiming for in terms of the feel of the house?

Whilst we wanted the exterior to be a contemporary version of the Caribbean style we were in some ways restricted by the lay of the land, because it’s on such a steep slope. We wanted a vibe of warmth and comfort going through the house so we’ve gone for fairly warm tones and stone colours, co-ordinated with the oor and kept that consistent throughout while keeping individuality in each space with the furnishings and art which is all quite vibrant and joyful.

Tell us a bit about the furnishings and features of the house

Generally we used Chelsea Harbour Design Centre in London who are the suppliers we use for our interior

design practice; Ward & Co. Interiors. So because we already knew a lot of the ranges, to draw upon all of that knowledge when doing our own property was really useful. All the joinery was also speci cally designed by us for the property and made by our suppliers in the UK.

e superb lighting design was done by Sally Storey and John Cullen Lighting, with many of our lamps and shades coming from Pooky lighting and Porta Romana. e main items of furniture are by Timothy Oulton. e fabrics are from a variety of suppliers at di erent price levels, including Mark Abbott at Abbott and Boyd, de La Cuona, Osborne & Little and then John England for the Irish Linen. All the cushions are from Timorous Beasties. Rugs from the Natural Rug Company and then nally there are some antique pieces mixed in with all the new furnishings, which blend together seamlessly. e kitchen is from Extreme Design who we work with all the time in our design practice. All of the tiles in all six bathrooms are from Fired Earth. We

We wanted a vibe of warmth and comfort going through the house

chose them for the colour palette and the texture and because they were just so calming. We’ve used the same tiles on the oor throughout the whole property and then chosen a feature tile for each bathroom to make them individual. All the bathrooms have got ambient, warm light, around the mirrors to light up the face and then directional spot lights on the feature tiles at the back of the shower walls. If you go into the room at night the vanity units are under lit and they light up to show you the way in the dark.

What is your favourite part of your new home?

It’s hard to say what my favourite part is, but certainly the views from the master bedroom are outstanding. I also think that when we’re with a group of close friends and family around the pool area, because we’ve got that outside bar built, with the music and television, and the lovely lighting out there, that’s going to be a great place to meet and talk.

How did you nd the building process?

e house was designed by Rawdon Turner and although it is always hard to manage something from far away, we’re nearly there now and we love the result. When nding the teams to work with, we tried to use local as much as possible and engaging with the local businesses meant we got to learn more about the ways of the country and the culture. Because of our business we were very organised with drawings and able to submit those in good time and we were also able to decide what we could or couldn’t do locally. Although we did bring a lot of things on island, with Covid in the way that was something we just had to accept.

And nally, what advice would you give to other people looking to build their own property in Antigua?

When they do nd the plot that they want, my advice would be to really check the topography of where they’re going to build and to have a soil survey done. I would also make sure that they understand that things do take longer. For us the lay of the land needed a lot of steel and concrete but also goods take longer to arrive on island, so there are natural delays along the way, and you really need to take onboard the restrictions. n

About the property

Villa Papillon is located within the Reeds Point development, and covers 8,500 square foot. ere are six luxury bedroom suites in the property, a spacious living area, fully equipped kitchen and large dining areas both inside and out. Terraced gardens surround the place and there is a Yoga deck slash sunset terrace, an in nity pool with a dedicated pool deck, an outside bar with TV and music system built and all of it facing West for spectacular ocean views and breathtaking sunsets.

Villa Papillon is available for rent from January 2022. If you are interested in buying land and building your own custom designed holiday home, Luxury Locations also represent an array of amazing plots available now in Antigua. Hillside plots within gated communities from US$595,000 for ¼ acre, 1 acre beach front plots from US$1.6M at Galleon Beach and harbour side plots in Jolly Harbour from US$300,000. Check out Luxury Locations website for more details.