Ocean Club Drive
Paradise Island, The Bahamas
2004-2006

It was a snowy winter day when I received a call from a long-time client. “We need you to design the quintessential modern beach house...”

Within a few days, I was getting my feet wet on a glorious stretch of beach in Paradise Island. Located in the exclusive Ocean Club enclave, this project was not without its challenges. The home had to provide a place of refuge and comfort for a busy family and, at the same time signal to a range of guests and business associates that, when they were here, they had truly arrived.

This was a property designated suitable for only traditionally styled homes. Through careful consideration a design evolved that respected the home's place within its community while satisfying the needs of its owners.

The result is a design centered on a simple courtyard that opens to the beach and ocean beyond, bordered by bold walls of glass. All rooms open out into the courtyard, which also houses the infinity edge pool. The lines between indoor and outdoor rooms are blurred and one moves freely from space to space.

Guests remark on the ease with which one lives in this casual retreat, its state of mind created through the home's conceptual marriage of exclusive spa and boutique hotel. The unique, modernist characteristics of the design, which initially caused the greatest stir, now draw the community's attention. In the end, this vacation retreat, in its quiet and pristine setting, serves each of its intended purposes; it leaves everyone wishing for just one more day.