Dream House | A calming retreat in the Blue Mountains

In the spirit of adventure, let’s all meet in Papine, Kingston, to begin a one-and-a-half-hour journey of revelation to a faraway, isolated location where clouds and mountains caress at an extremely high altitude of 4,000 feet above sea level in the Blue Mountains.

Make sure you are driving a four-wheel drive vehicle from Mavis Bank, east rural St Andrew (due to punishing road conditions), to our eagerly-awaited destination by Journey’s End, Penlyne Castle, St Thomas.

The mountain house, originally built in the 1970s and formed by mostly timber (70 per cent), with a considerable length floating wooden balcony on one side of the building and a shorter one on the opposite side – opens the casual interiors via glass doors to epic, sweeping panoramas from a splendorous vantage point.

The living quarters of the house are designed with bedrooms of relaxation, bathrooms with glass showers, living and dining spaces that have you cuddled up within their walls of comfort, and a kitchen displaying stainless steel surface finishes.

The salubrious, misty two-acre property is completely energy-independent (no JPS). Snuggle around the outdoor firepit with family and friends on those chilly nights. Rare and exotic plants and trees lushly abound with winged, feathered friends singing among their branches. This is a working coffee farm, my friends, along with the commercial growing of flowers (including orchids).

Kisha, a florist, and her husband, Dominic Simpson, an orchid farmer, attribute everything they have achieved (including a successful marriage) to God Almighty. They needed a cool climate and more land space for their floral business, so they looked and looked. Challenges and obstacles they faced along the way in buying the house in 2020 and renovating it, but tested as they were, the married couple who had first met at a party in their early 20s kept true to their faith and trust, and today, they own a place beyond their wildest dreams.

Amen!

Barry Rattray is a dream house designer and builder. Email feedback to barryrattray1@hotmail.com and lifestyle@gleanerjm.com.