Two married clothing designers owned this property and were lucky to escape unhurt when Hurricane Hugo in 1989 tore off the structure that was formerly their home, built onto the masonry tower of an old plantation sugar mill.
Tortola based Architect Michael Helm drew a new house with many Caribbean elements. Sloping shed roofs with shuttered windows above , a protected courtyard on the lee side of the house and grand arched openings to allow the outside in. Everything was made to be hurricane proof, the masonry in 12” blocks all poured with concrete, the roof timbers bolted in to bond beams and amply sized.
We designed and built all three levels inside the mill, the kitchen ,bathroom and bedroom, built the stairs and installed many feet of solid plank teak flooring. We built arched windows and grand entry doors that were set in an antique Indonesian frame, we built the bathroom vanities. Many architectural elements from tiles to doors and hardware were recycled Dutch colonial elements from Java.
Built in conjunction with the owners Eric Johnson and Twyla Wilson who project managed and laboured on the house over a three year period, this intimately considered building was selected as a cover story by Architectural Digest magazine.