Mon | Dec 2, 2024

Dream House | Celebrity cabinet-maker’s Portland home built, furnished to exacting standards

Published:Sunday | July 10, 2022 | 12:08 AM
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Elaborate 18-foot-high coffered ceilings add drama to the extraordinary interiors.
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Elaborate 18-foot-high coffered ceilings add drama to the extraordinary interiors.
The lavishly appointed main bedroom suite leads out to its own private sea view balcony.
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The lavishly appointed main bedroom suite leads out to its own private sea view balcony.
No expense was spared in creating this coastal home.
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No expense was spared in creating this coastal home.
The endless Caribbean Sea is part of the backyard playground.
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The endless Caribbean Sea is part of the backyard playground.
The kitchen and wet bar cabinetry shown was built by America’s celebrity cabinet-maker to the stars.
Contributed
The kitchen and wet bar cabinetry shown was built by America’s celebrity cabinet-maker to the stars.
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Look carefully at the exterior of this house, and you will appreciate its symmetrical face – with the left frontal half being a reflection of its corresponding right side. This mirror image feature in architecture has been present from ancient times, and to a lesser extent, up until now, in the most spectacular and beautiful architectural edifices ever conceived and built on earth. Its long-held design benefits include order, simplicity, harmony, and balance.

As we grace this Port Antonio, Portland, address with our eager presence, we thank Donovan White for obliging us with a familiarising tour of the building’s visibly striking inner attributes.

Slowly, as we step through the two-storey space spanning all of 9,000 square feet, we count five dreamlike bedrooms (some with balconies), all with ensuite bathrooms (the main with a whirlpool spa tub, a double multijet glass-walled shower, and double counter sinks). Our keen eyes pay heed to the bodacious-looking formal and informal living and dining rooms that reach out to the coast with their private verandah, ushering in infinite water scenery. The tastefully appointed granite-infused kitchen impresses with an island feature encircled by dark wood cabinetry and top-of-the-line luxury appliances, that is, a full-size sub-zero brand refrigerator and Thermador cook-top oven. A full wet bar and eating counter add to the creature comforts. Two side-by-side garages (with automated doors) are reached by the interlocking brick, palm tree-surrounded driveway in front.

Walk-on floors of dazzling hardwood and Italian porcelain tiles. Cast your attention upwards to elaborate 18-foot high, coffered, tray-style ceilings, enhanced with crown mouldings and recessed lights. Furniture imported from Miami expresses both timeless traditional style and trendy pieces.

The enviable backdrop to the rear unveils an outdoor entertainment terrace, a gazebo, and an elevated concrete walkway travelling directly above the rocky landscape back to the sea with its continuous, hypnotic wave action.

The extravagant home on half an acre is lavishly finished, decorated, and furnished to exacting standards to achieve this extraordinary result. The owner is a celebrity cabinet-maker to America’s stars including Gloria Estefan, so little wonder the cupboards and other furnishings are of such exceptionally high quality.

An exterior, parading dignified calm and restraint. An interior, surprisingly exploding with excitement. Never judge a book by its cover, we have always been told.

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