Category: Caribbean

  • Ambergris House, Turks and Caicos

    Creating Experiences

    Clients already hàve luxury at home – when on holiday, they’re looking for a different experience, one that allows them to wind down without losing the comfort of home.

    With time to relax, bathrooms become more than just functional or luxurious. Having a shower “outdoors” (or at least, with the outdoors experience), getting ready with a view of the ocean…

    The bedroom can be more playful than at home, and a panoramic extra-wide view is a must. For this reason, we have created all suites to be extra-wide – avoiding the typical narrow and deep hotel suite format.

    The above elements also make the house “instagrammable”. For resort success today, it is necessary to create “Instagram ops” as guests posting their unique views, bathroom and interiors are a key component of marketing success.

    Size Impression & Width

    With views like these, we prefer to maximize the width of the house to create a maximum number of rooms with views – and panoramic views at that!

    This beats a “deep” house with “second line” rooms without views. It also creates a bigger perception of size – which boosts the value of the property for sales & rental. We’ve also created a little “double height” space near the monumental entrance door. This adds a little wow-factor to the first impression ánd provides natural updraft and cross ventilation – for those clients who do not like aircon 24/24. 

    The same logic was also applied to the pool: the swimming basin is only 37x11ft, keeping maintenance reduced, but the poolscape creates several different, shallow levels, different experiences, and different Instagram ops. 

    As a result, the pool looks twice as wide as it is.  The pool is also slightly raised so it visually connects with the sea – without this, the green zone would show up between the pool and the ocean. Additionally, the infinity overflow on the terrace side creates a small waterfall with a zen-like and cooling effect. The cabana features an outdoor kitchen and a cool place to lunch in the shadow, enjoying the views of the pool and the ocean.

    Openness

    We emphasize “long” sightlines – where possible, from one corner of the house you can see all the way to the windows at the other end of the house – and further into the garden. From the bed, sightlines through the windows have exceptionally wide angles thanks to the slightly recessed bathroom walls. Those bathrooms, while offering privacy, are semi-open so the whole suite becomes a zen-like spa. Thanks to this strategy, all rooms are 22ft wide or more. We’ve shown the master suite on the ground level, which offers the best experience when the owners are in the house alone; sliding doors guarantee privacy – yet if preferred, the master can be on the first floor. Note that there ís a space in the back on the second floor which can be used as an office, playroom, or converted into a fifth room. Material choice Only two materials combine to create a tropical minimalist look – a natural stone (limestone, travertine), a warm wood white oak – with small details in white, black, or gold. Both materials are available as natural stone and wood – but also as tile and nano-printed aluminum, for ease of maintenance. Those sophisticated but high-touch materials create the ultimate barefoot luxury experience.

  • The Pinecrest House – Miami

    Modern Villas designed this home for a luxury builder, who already built several of our designs in Turks & Caicos,and now wanted to realise her own dream house in the luxury enclave of Pinecrest – Miami, FL.

    What made this project extra challenging was the requirement to exactly reuse the foundation plan of an existing (quite boring) home. The house features 4/6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, a home cinema, gym and office… and of course, an amazing poolscape and a pickleball court.

    The design is based on Modern Villas signature luxurious minimalism – with a little touch of Palm Springs modernist creativity.

    Interesting, a client from Turks & Caicos liked the plan so much that he asked us to make a similar home – but with more traditional Caribbean architecture – in Providenciales – now under construction.

  • The Emara House, TCI

    Renovation of Rental villas – former Prince´s house

    For a U.S. private client, developing several high-end rental villas around the former Prince villa in Turks & Caicos, creating a truly private gated peninsula, Modern Villas recently designed this minimalist, understated renovation to bring a typical Caribbean architecture up to date for a demanding clientèle.

    The low, baroque painted ceilings will be gutted and the original pool – a sculptural but unpractical feature spread over three levels – was streamlined to bring all essential pool entertainment on one level and create a pool worthy of such a luxurious house.

    Several guest bungalows on the estate are being redeveloped as well and the property can be rented together with the adjacent villa, formerly belonging to Prince, which has be restored and redecorated respecting the original style created for the artist

  • St John House

    villa blue rock, Cruz bay

    Perched on a terraced hillside above Cruz Bay, the St. John House offers 6,500 sq ft of refined modern living across two sleek teak-and-glass pavilions.


    Full-height sliders seamlessly connect the great room—complete with linen sectionals and a kitchen with bar island —to a 60-ft infinity-edge pool that appears to spill directly into the Caribbean.


    Italian silver travertine floors run uninterrupted from interior living areas to expansive shaded terraces, keeping spaces cool and elegant year-round.


    The gourmet kitchen features Calacatta marble counters, Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances, and panoramic water views, perfect for entertaining.


    The primary suite occupies the upper level, with a private terrace, outdoor rain shower, and spa bath overlooking Cruz Bay.

    Three additional en-suite guest rooms open to covered verandas; a dedicated yoga studio and gym flow to an al-fresco deck.

    A hydraulic elevator links all levels, including a rooftop lounge with fire pit and 360-degree island vistas.


    Smart-home systems control lighting, climate, and sound; solar panels and cisterns ensure efficiency.


    Offered turnkey with custom furnishings, this gated estate includes deeded beach access and two garage for up to 5-6 cars.
    Priced upon request—contact for private showing.

  • Union Island

    Union Island

    The villa unfolds along Campbell Beach’s limestone edge, its low roof hovering just above the trade winds.


    A single travertine wall slices the plan, guiding the eye from arrival court to sea.


    Living spaces open through pivoting glass walls that vanish, letting the Caribbean spill across polished concrete floors.
    Teak screens filter sunlight into shifting lattices, blurring boundaries between inside and out.


    The infinity pool stretches toward the horizon, its surface level with the living terrace—so the ocean seems to begin at your feet.
    Morning light washes the master suite; evening breezes drift through without a switch flipped.


    A sunken courtyard of black basalt brings the sky down between wings, cooling the air as it rises.


    The kitchen island faces the water, every meal framed by reef and sky.

    Lounges, daybeds, and dining flow outward under ipe beams and native vines. Rain channels into hidden cisterns; solar ribbons power silent comfort.


    The villa breathes with the peninsula—open, shaded, salt-kissed.
    Every room is a veranda; every veranda, a room.
    Here, architecture simply steps aside and lets the Grenadines in.