Dream House | Seaside St Elizabeth retreat embraces the outdoors

This address is a treasure chest of unforeseen qualities, imparting an unpretentious lifestyle within and outside of its walls.

This, my friends, is a retreat from the rigours of life and all the cares of this world. A casually concocted architectural and interior design of rustic style, flaunting a special symbiotic relationship with the outdoors. In fact, your waking hours may well find you living more on the outside than inside this very house!

But why is that? Well for one, the nature-blessed one-acre site in Billy’s Bay, Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth, cajoles you to fall in love with its proximity to the seaside. Eyeball seabirds, known as seagulls in the flight, together with dolphins in the distance in concert with whale-like sea creatures, known as manatees, doing their thing. A turtle sanctuary is also present.

Other rationale for indulging repeatedly on the outside include the outdoor garden living room under a tree; uncovered leisure and dining terraces and seaview balconies extending from the building; a giant-sized outdoor chess board, the likes few have ever seen; and a romantic fire pit, with flames aglow. Added to all this is the half basketball court for those so inclined.

But we are not finished! There is a shimmering zero-edge swimming pool with a lounge deck; and a separate roof top heated, fountain spa pool, with its relaxant hydrotherapy jets, creating a formidable alliance.

Most of the nine bathrooms greet you with individual outdoor trellised showers, bathing you in divine natural sunlight and starlight.

There are eight bedrooms, almost all with soaking tubs, immersing you in the joys of stress and anxiety relief.

This gem of a house that is one-year-old took three years to build. It is owned by civil engineer Bryan Ingleton and his wife, Antoinette. They have three children.

The floor area spans 5,000 square foot, with two separate carports. The majority of the floors expose polished concrete in grey, white, and blue colouration. Kitchen counters are very much in vogue with concrete surfaces. The building’s exterior is painted white, and interior in white, with a tinge of grey.

The furniture is all wood, a staggering mixture of Spanish elm, mahogany, oak, lignum vitae, blue mahoe, cedar, and guango.

It is here in Treasure Beach where Bryan and Antoinette fell in love and later got married. It is also here where they have chosen to erect foundations and build a lifestyle very much in touch with nature.

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