Beachshack: Tropical Building Page

St Barts Renovation:
Azu Villa

Anguilla Construction:
Guest cottage.
Tech center.
Residence.

Mary Ann's Tropical Building Page

This is the web site for the three villas that I built on Anguilla and the villa that I am renovating in St Barts (see Azu Villa Renovation Page), plus tropical construction tips and resources as well. These construction projects started in 1997, although land acquisition and architectural planning started in 1995. Every stage of the construction is recorded here.

We rent the villa in St Barts and the guest cottage in Anguilla (La Vanda) and the villa at the top of the Anguilla property (Mimosa), but we keep the beachfront house and pool for our own use. And we have created a name and web page for the overall completed property: Bellamare

For details on the main Anguilla beachfront house, visit the Residence Construction Page.

For the technology center, visit the "Clubhouse" Construction Page.

And finally, for the guest cottage, our first attempt at construction on Anguilla, visit the La Vanda Construction Page.

-- Mary Ann Green

Construction Tips

Wednesday, May 24, 2000 Permalink

Window Box. The picture window in Mary Ann's oceanfront study required custom cut hurricane glass from a piece 60" by 96". Notice the curved top of the opening! Contractor Kenneth Maynard ("Columbus") formed a matching window frame out of wood to match. Amazing.
The side windows are operable wooden louvers, allowing the room to be cooled either by air conditioning or the breeze. Here you can see the exterior window sill being formed out of concrete.
The finished exterior.
Here is the interior of the study. The window box will have a seat and cushion and is long enough for a nice nap!

Tuesday, May 23, 2000 Permalink

Invisible Hinges.
In order to achieve a 12 foot door opening with no posts, we used heavy bifold louvered doors in several rooms. The doors are so heavy that ordinary hinges might sag. Instead we ordered SOSS "Invisible Hinges" (for the SOSS web site, Click Here). The web site helps you calculate how large a hinge you need and how many. These are very strong hinges that are routered into the door in such a way that nothing shows when the door is closed, as their name implies.
Each hinge weighs 3.75 pounds and costs $35 (plus shipping and duty). Available from Farrey's in Florida (phone (305) 919-0125). They stock many brands and delivered to our export consolidator very efficiently. Here is what the hinges look like when the door is removed. Note that we have them in both galvanized and stainless steel.

Monday, May 22, 2000 Permalink

Laundry Shutters and Doors. The laundry now has varnished wooden shutters and painted wood doors. Notice the curved tops.
The small white roof in the background is an in-ground cistern. The dog is our doberman Bobo, over one year old now.