This was once a sad house! It was missing all the love that it had been crying out for, even to the extremes of despair. Its physical and functional characteristics had long lost their ability to infuse excitement and comfort, and it longed to be rescued!

Who would valorously come forth and devote the passionate attention it so desperately sought?

A loving couple would purchase this 12-year-old property originally built by a Nicaraguan fellow who had fallen in love with a Jamaican. Discretely, the empty house actually spoke to the wife after the realtor’s introduction three years ago.

Her husband, a real estate investor born in Toronto, Canada, having excitedly visited Jamaica as a teenager, realised from back then that he just had to marry a Jamaican girl. She is an interior designer, also born in Toronto, to Jamaican immigrants, who spent her summers on the island. But that was not enough. She needed her own family retreat right here on the south coast, St Elizabeth, where her blood relatives come from.

The makeover of the pacifying entity has given it a new lease of life, an augmented and beautified implementation that has left the house with the incontrovertible knowledge that the new owners have its best interests at heart.

The curvaceous, charismatic architecture paints a picture of terra cotta colour barrel-tile roofs and vibrant yellow and orange walls jumping out at you. With arched windows and door openings, along with arched, columned roof supports, several balconies extend the interior living space, some having sensuous curves as well.

Venture inside the 5,000-square-foot, porcelain-tiled space and behold, seven hypnotic bedrooms, all en suite and with separate sitting areas on both floors. The dining area also joins them in opening to blue sea view covered outdoors. The island, tile counter kitchen, brings you the most unusual occurrence: walls decoratively tiled straight to ceiling. The serenity of the colour blue is evident, for example, on all doors.

Dive into that rounded-edge swimming pool and cool off in one of two thatched-roof gazebos. As for the beach, a two-minute walk will have your toes playing in the sand.

Barry Rattray is a dream house designer and builder. Email feedback to barryrattray1@hotmail.com [2] and lifestyle@gleanerjm.com [3].