Sweet Fun in Virgin Gorda – Having the scope and vision to build a dream house is a luxury afforded to Managing Director Ajit George of Nail Bay Luxury Villa Resort. All things considered, the design of its latest property Sugar Mill House, a circular parapet on the hillside, just one lot from the Sir Francis Drake Channel, overlooking the beautiful white beaches of Virgin Gorda, has the footprint of a classic Caribbean Sugar Mill that could have been just renovated. With fun in mind and no modern amenity spared this interesting property complements its nearby ruins of the sugar plantation. Built as a guest house on a .70+acre lot, it was designed to allow a future owner to design and build a large dream house with the option to rent the Sugar Mill House as either a two bedroom, three and a half bath guest house with 3 fully equipped kitchens and two pools or as two separate rental units with private entrances and separate pools and patio areas.
Ajit George has spent 25 years in Virgin Gorda and has seen his baby of Nail Bay grow up to be a very successful project with over $35 million in homes already built. Sugar Mill House incorporates some of Mr. George’s favorite views, from the Copper Mines to Savannah Bay and Gorda Peak to Anegada. Each window and porthole in this pseudo fort and lighthouse frames the majestic quietness of the islands, yachts passing through the frames creating life in motion. Circular in its structure and a four storey building built with stones handpicked from the hills of Virgin Gorda, Mr. George describes the detailing involved in building this house as very challenging. It’s fun to build a complicated playhouse; its practicalities of installing kitchen cabinets and working with a cylindrical stone structure into a hillside have created a unique house to be enjoyed as a honeymoon getaway or a fantastic holiday adventure.
Peter Pan could live here. The roof of the building has stone pillars supporting a circular ring beam that evokes images of Stonehenge while the small rooftop infinity pool overflows down the ramparts below. Portholes with a 2 and a half storey blue tiled trough monitor the water streaming down through the two bedroom units. The circular feel of the building extends into flow, whilst the two bedroom units can be separated completely. They have a wonderful internal stone staircase connecting them if both units are rented together.
Each one-bedroom unit is air-conditioned and surrounded by quirks and angles of sight to titillate the senses. The internal surround walls create a passage round the sleeping quarters where a fully equipped kitchen with Emeril Stainless Cookware by All-Clad, and a large bathroom featuring a shower with remarkable views lead through to the king size mahogany bed. In one unit, there is an overhanging fan that encloses its blades like a jellyfish swimming while in another unit, the blades of the overhanging fan seem to disappear completely. Tasteful in its décor with a touch of whimsy, the line of sight of both the Sir Francis Channel and the Dog Islands is always given advantage. Architect Tim Peck initiated internal castle like slats through the walls to catch a glimpse of the ocean view. Each window serves as a frame, slightly angled or rounded. The light and ocean intersect to provide a spectacular view.
Vertical lines within give depth and height to the circular structure; the upper unit also has a large attic for the owner’s storage. Both units feature 32” flat screen televisions with satellite reception for both Sirius radio and 100 channels of television programming together with a stereo surround system as well as an iPod docking station.
The features of a mill house are that from the top down space gets bigger, hence the luxury of the lower floors. The lower one bedroom unit enjoys the family room below it, a larger stone patio and pool. Within its bedroom the same circular interior is present on a larger scale; water flows down outside its portholes, its views identical as above. A rock garden with, cacti and a beautifully landscaped garden with yellow allamanda and other tropical flowers create privacy for this patio Connected by the stone staircase to the upper level the lower unit enjoys access to the family room.
In the well of the mill house lays the biggest room in the house, the family room. Here an air-conditioned entertainment facility with a full bath featuring a jacuzzi and a washer dryer room. This is the ideal place for lounging out the evenings. There is a large pull- out couch to watch your favorite moves on the 37” flat screen TV. There is even a Wii system to bring the entertainment element to a new level. A spacious kitchen with a large dining area that can comfortably seat eight people makes this the perfect place to hang out.
This is the room for both units to get together after a day at the beach. Enjoy a cook out with the four burner 85,000 btu gas grill with a rotisserie on the roof top deck or the Weber gas grill on the ground floor patio adjacent to the pool. Inside Mr. George left three of the original boulders as a whimsical tribute to the large boulders for which Virgin Gorda is famous.
Over 30 fruit trees have been recently planted on this lot including mangoes, pear, orange, guava, avocado, lime, sapodilla, coconut, papaya, bananas and starfruit to provide fresh fruit in the future. In addition over 300 plants have planted around the Sugar Mill House to give it the perfect tropical touch. Gourmet cooks can take advantage of two herb gardens featuring fresh basil, curry leaves, lemon grass, etc.
The potential for enjoyment is limitless. This property is on 148 acres with almost a mile of waterfront comprising Nail Bay Villa Resort. All home owners and their guests enjoy the communal facilities of a lighted tennis court, community pools, pool side bar and restaurant and beach chairs. Nail Bay is not a gated community and is open all year round. Recently, the BVI Government and the developers of Nail Bay signed a comprehensive Development Agreement to facilitate over the next six years a new four or five star hotel of approximately one hundred hotel units. This is in addition to hotel spa suites, hotel villas, townhouses and residential villas for sale with a luxury spa and related facilities including additional restaurants, bars, swimming pools, gift shops and boutiques at Nail Bay plus a private jetty and ten moorings. The Government agreed, as part of its obligations under the Development Agreement, to pave in concrete at its own expense the public road from Nail Bay to Pond Bay which is currently underway with more luxury villas, at Nail Bay. While there are 104 lots on Nail Bay, there are currently no unimproved lots for sale which makes this lot with the potential to build a main house much more valuable.
Most properties within Nail Bay enjoy the fruits of the resort’s property management. Under its trade license Nail Bay can manage rentals of owner’s property during their absence. Choosing Virgin Gorda to develop its real estate is choice for the developers. Building in a community resort with its own desalination plant complemented by a 100,000 gallon back up cistern and two large stand-by generators that are connected to every house at Nail Bay reduces the possibility of remoteness. With ADSL wireless Internet service, telephone and satellite TV and radio, the
outside world is not so far away, but your world outside as an owner is breathtaking.
Rental options in the winter from $350 for one unit to $595 per night for the entire house. For rentals, you can book online at www.nailbay.com.
The Sugar Mill House with over .70 acres of land is available for sale at $1,450,000. Lease Purchase options, as well as partial owner financing may be available. For more information contact Ajit Mathew George at [email protected].
To view the property, please call Nail Bay at 284-494-8000.
