SPRING BAY
ST. THOMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
PROJECT STATUS | BUILT
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Hardscape-Landscape design with construction administration for a waterfront estate with a main villa building, two guest cottages, and a gatehouse building on a 60-acre property in the secluded Spring Bay. The villa building expansion was designed by Scott Natvig from SAND, Los Angeles.
The interventions over the course of 4 years included the redesign and reconstruction of the vehicular roads on the property with stone paving or permeable concrete, a turnaround terrace arrival, new planters, terraces and steps facing the water and leading to the dock, a water fountain retrofitting two old rum steel vessels, a natural pool integrated into a swimming pool (design only, not constructed). The plantings were procured and installed with our landscape crew, and we provided maintenance services for an additional five years.
The main house, seen from the dock during the remodeling, is to become approximately 10,230 square feet of living space with five bedroom suites. The house was under construction at the time of our hiring.
Old images of the ocean and dock area before the remodel, when we first met the previous owner. Several steps carved into the cliff and a more serendipitous West Indian “aggregation” of parts gave the original house a sort of charm, but the new owners wanted easier access to both the house and waterfront, new roofs, cisterns, air conditioning, and customizing the house interior and exterior space to their taste.
The property encompasses two bays, including the northern portion of Sunsi Bay. The Northeast side of both bays creates the perfect conditions for the development of lush woodlands dominated by Coccothrinax alta, a very tall skinny palm that is endemic to the St Thomas and St. John islands. It is hurricane resistant because of the swaying capacity of its tall, slender trunk. It is able to grow on cliffs very close to the ocean spray, but is very slow-growing. You can admire the whole north side of this woodland in videos in our other project Sunsi Bay residence.
STONE DRIVE
The new owner wanted to enlarge considerably all roads on the property, eliminating an open narrow concrete channel that existed before on the side, collecting runoff water during heavy storms. The arrival turnaround under construction shows epoxy-coated steel reinforcement and a central custom-designed medallion that shows the location of the property in the Virgin Islands.
To decrease the impact of the road expansion, we suggested visually narrowing the apparent size by adding two bands at the edge of concrete treated with integrated color additives, which, with saw cutting, recalls the texture and surface finish of sandstone or brick.
Our native stone is very hard to work with and traditionally has been used for paving with very large mortar joints to avoid costly shaping and cutting. We have improved this technique by mixing stones from the quarry (usually gray-blue) with those from the site (more brown-gold in color) and using steel-brushed joints to create an edge for shadow that makes the stonework look like it has the wear of history.
One preliminary concept sketch proposes that the parking areas be designated by changing the mortar joints with grass and sand joints. This is the option adopted. Another option (second slide) proposes that the parking areas be designated by using river cobbles in the joints between a fan-shaped concrete band.
PERVIOUS CONCRETE PAVING
We proposed to pave all service roads and the woodland roads across the large property with pervious concrete, a novelty for the island. The objective was to be able to drive golf carts through the existing woodland and eliminate the gravel roads previously there, while maintaining full permeability for stormwater runoff filtration.
Native trees and palms existing along the sides of the new roads were incorporated into the pervious paving or into the dry rock walls that were completely rebuilt. In the back terrace, the pervious concrete was extended all the way to the back porch entrance as a temporary solution before the construction of a new natural pool would be initiated.
PLANTING PLAN DRAWINGS
After the preparation of the hardscape construction documents for the road redesign, we developed planting design plans, though not in great detail because we would handle the installation.
SHADED GARDEN
On the north side of the house, partially covered by a porch area, there was a rocky planter where nothing would grow. We improved drainage and soil conditions and planted native anthuriums, licuala, calathea, epipremnum, wart fern, and orchids, along with species of bromeliads that prefer lots of light but no direct sun, both on the ground among new rocks and on tree trunks.
We designed a structure to hang small epiphyte bromeliads using remnants of two old gates that we found on-site. The iron gates became the support for many little Tillandsia sp.
THE FOUNTAIN
The owner had on-site two rusting steel rum pots that are remnants of the rum industry when sugar plantations were all over the islands. We designed a fountain into the stone wall, positioning the smaller vessel above the larger one using the corroded indent as a scupper. The drawings show two pots, but we found a third, smaller one and added it on top to improve the original design. The photos show the fountain under construction without the third smaller rum pot and completed.
BROMELIAD RAIL
Most of the ocean terraces were expanded, and the original rail was eliminated. In the upper porch area, heavy pillars with thin cable wires were built as part of the house remodel, with an empty overhang beyond the pillars that looked odd. This gave us the idea that the overhang could be used for planting.
In the lower area, while additional upper porch column bases were under construction, we were able to incorporate a linear planter with salt-resistant bromeliads to the outside of the proposed wood and steel railing for additional safety.
ROCKWALLS: BEFORE|AFTER
TALL STONE WALL: BEFORE|AFTER
THE NATURAL POOL
To be inserted in the narrow curvilinear space of a road switchback to the backyard, a natural pool filtration system was proposed, with a water garden as part of the swimming pool, cleaning the water through plants rather than sanitizing it with salt or chlorine.
Inspirational images from Vargem Grande, Roberto Burle Marx
