Rustic West End cottage at one with nature

Avatar, the highest earning movie in cinema history, surprisingly inspired this human habitat situated on West End Road, near the lighthouse in Negril.

The film’s plot takes into consideration the consequence of environmentalism, helping to create a better world where nature is not in conflict with mankind and its destructive forces.

This two-acre nature-blessed refuge is now owned by a fellow who had left the island for Florida International University, where he majored in marketing and international business. Technology giant, Amazon, came for him right after graduation, but boredom would get the better of him, and so he returned to Florida to pursue real estate activities.

But, in his most quiet moments, Jamaica kept beseeching him to come back home, and with her constantly on his mind, he did just that. He purchased the said derelict property four years ago, and spent two years remodelling it.

It’s a jungle of fruit and other trees, with this cottage reminiscent of an old-time Jamaican vernacular, sheltering below their canopy. With all the widespread shade, the sunbeams harsh penetration is severely curtailed, much to the comfort and delight of the interiors.

The vivid, yellow-painted wood structure along with its hospitable front porch, bordered by diagonal cross-railings, is a picture of French windows, yellow-coloured cement floors, and white cement, custom-crafted counters.

Its compact dimensions makes room for a king-size bedded room with double door access to the outside, accompanied by an unrestricted walk-in shower bathroom with vessel sink vanity. A cosy sitting/dining area and kitchenette has also been factored into the overall measurements.

The glorious rainforest wilderness befriends the simple architecture, in tandem with its outdoor shower under the open sky, mosaic-tiled swimming pool, a table tennis wood deck, a Japanese koi fish pond, including a waterfall, and meandering stone pathways through the exuberant vegetation.

The rustic cottage celebrates a unique atmospheric feature that the great majority of dream houses in Jamaica do not possess. That is, the surrounding outdoors (just as invaluable as the indoors) are energised with the art of night illumination, magically impacting the architectural and landscape space with spectacular visual effect. This is by employing bedazzling, colour-changing LED luminous systems, for ambient and accent highlighting effectiveness. Wow!

The luxury of this house is not only in its internal space, but rather, in what surrounds it externally, and how they venerate one another.

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