YOU KNOW SEVEN MILE BEACH, YES? Probably the most famous and glorious beach in the western hemisphere, it is a long crescent of coral-sand perfection on the western end of Grand Cayman. Seven Mile Beach has been named “The Caribbean’s Best Beach” by the revered Travel and Leisure. Others think it is one of the best beaches in the world. It is public property (as are all beaches in the Cayman Islands) and you are free to walk the full length of the beach, which is actually 6.3 miles, regardless of where you are staying or how small your hedge fund is. There are a few residences along this famous beach, with condos built in the 1980’s starting at about half a million. The homes, as you can just imagine, are in the multi-million range. But nothing much new in the way of residential or hospitality has been built along this beach in more than ten years.
That is, until now. Dart Realty, one of the largest developers in the Cayman Islands, proudly unveils its newest property: the Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa, Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman, the boutique hotel brand’s first Caribbean property, and The Residences at Seafire. There will be a total of 265 rooms, including the private wholly owned homes.
“On behalf of Ken Dart and Dart Realty (Cayman) Ltd., we are excited to announce that we have begun the one-year countdown to the opening of Grand Cayman’s first luxury resort in more than a decade, the Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa, and our for-sale residential offering, The Residences at Seafire, situated on the award-winning Seven Mile Beach,” said Mark VanDevelde, CEO of DRCL.
View of Seven Mile Beach and the Caribbean Sea from the lobby of Kimpton Seafire
The Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa, and The Residences at Seafire, both reflect founder Ken Dart’s vision of creating places where both visitors and residents want to gather, spend time and be inspired by the beauty of Cayman’s natural environment, says VanDevelde.
It is also another testament to Dart’s commitment to help grow the local island economy as well as create new employment opportunities. The property topped out in August, and the design team is now focusing attention on the build-out of the interior spaces. The resort and residences are on schedule for opening in November, 2016. The Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa, and The Residences at Seafire, will add the first residential dimension to a developer renowned for thoughtful design approaches encompassing sustainability, advanced recycling efforts, and the most energy efficient structures. Dart Realty is an investment, development and management company with more than one million square feet of built assets including the uber master-planned, mixed-use development of Camana Bay, featuring more than 700,000 square feet of developed grounds including courtyards, gardens, event spaces, sports fields, car parks, roads and a helipad.
It’s time to start thinking of your trip to the beach! A prime ocean view is a bit of an obligation. Given the price of oceanview property, which of course, they aren’t making any more of, the onus is on the builder and architect to craft a home that is both livable and delivers on the promise of a jaw-dropping vista.
Jerusalem Road in Cohasset on Massachusetts’ South Shore has many homes that capture the classic look of a New England estate. Cohasset is a charming seaside town that offers many of the benefits of nearby Cape Cod but without as much of the tourist traffic (and no long wait to cross the bridge). This home, freshly built this year by Patrick Ahearn Architect and Fabrizio Construction, is a custom collaboration on a shingle style masterpiece with ocean views from 15 of 19 rooms!
We recently spent some time at our family-owned second home in Maine, at Drakes Island. The community is abuzz over a few things, one of them this sign — fading — posted by one of the homeowners down at the end of the beach.
Is your beach house style minimalist modern like this cool property? Find out by taking this quiz!
I got minimalist modern, which, considering my love of neutrals and nature-inspired color and design, really makes sense. Organic, full of curves and angles, with a variety of textures in a simple palette sounds so dreamy!
Want to find out what kind of decor your beach house should have? Take this awesome quiz from Coastal Living to find out! I’m guessing that Candy would get New England traditional! Don’t forget to post your results in the comments!
Located 35-miles off the coast of the tropical island of Roatán, is one of the Caribbean’s best kept secrets – Pristine Bay – and it’s just a short 3-hour flight from DFW International Airport. You could ideally leave around 8 a.m. and be on the beach by lunch! (more…)
This week is spring break for a lot of peeps, and we know that a hefty slice of Dallasites and North Texans have invaded the Beaches of Walton County, Florida, those picture-perfect white sands along Highway 30-A in the panhandle of northwest Florida.
And after October, we might just re-populate the place.
Phillip Day may just have the most enviable job in the world right now. While most of North America is freezing – buckets of snow in the northeast, 23 degrees tonight in Dallas brrrrr – Phillip is in charge of the sales and marketing for the best second home property in the Carribean, BahaMar, in Nassau, The Bahamas.
Better yet, BahaMar’s Vice President of Residential Sales is a Texan. Raised in Dallas and educated down the road at Baylor, Phillip is one of us! Here’s a little bit about BahaMar: The $3.6 billion, yes, with a “B”, project is set on 1,000 acres of prime beachfront paradise and will soon become one of the world’s largest, most luxurious resorts with everything jet-setting second home owners who love water, sun and fun could desire, and then more. That sun part is really sounding good right about now.
The total square footage of the development is expected to hit 3.3 million, with every square inch devoted to luxury. Baha Mar’s Grand Opening is set for December, 2014. There will be four hotels including a luxury Grand Hyatt, Rosewood, Mondrian and the Baha Mar Casino & Hotel. All of the hotels will surround a 100,000 square foot casino that promises to combine the best of Las Vegas and Monte Carlo. Jack Nicklaus himself is directing construction of a brand new 18-hole Nicklaus Signature golf course. Baha Mar includes a world-class convention center, a 2,000 seat concert hall, world-class spas, 40+ luxury retail stores, 30+ restaurants, bars and nightclubs and all set on one of the world’s most spectacular beaches.
Baha Mar is selling 274 fully furnished tastefully designed private residences. There will be one to three bedroom condominiums along with a handful of four bedroom beach villas all overlooking miles and miles of sparkling clear, aqua blue ocean.
Baha Mar even allows residence owners to participate in the hotel brand’s rental programs – a great way to pay for maintenance costs! Perhaps the best news yet: the lift will be so convenient, you will practically land at the resort.
Seriously, Baha Mar has already invested $250 million in building new tree-lined boulevards that will connect the resort to Nassau’s sparkling new Lynden Pindling International Airport with only a 10 minute ride. Lynden Pindling is the largest airport in The Bahamas, and was recently enlarged even more. If you fly private, you can depart the mainland and be on the beach by ten. Fly commercial, you can early-bird it from DFW via Miami in the morning, and be on the beach by afternoon. Thawing out from the cold at my computer, toes numb, I called Phillip to find out how things are progressing at Baha Mar:
CD: So yes, Phillip, we are freezing our arses off in Texas. The pre-holiday ice storm blew out our spa. We had a few days of paradise then this. It’s 37 outside right now. What is your temperature in Nassau?
Phillip: As a Dallas native, I remember how incredibly cold it gets during Texas winter blasts! I’m almost embarrassed to tell you that the temperature here in Nassau is in the high 70s. Every day is a beach day!
CD: What’s the water temp?
Phillip: I don’t know the exact water temperature today but I can tell you that I’m looking out the window of my office at Cable Beach and there are lots of smiling people swimming in the blue ocean!
CD: I hate you. Was it crowded over the holidays (trying to think negative thoughts)?
Phillip: Baha Mar won’t open until December 2014 so we don’t have guests yet. However, I can tell you that the Baha Mar teams from Rosewood, Grand Hyatt, Mondrian and the Baha Mar Casino Hotel are already hard at work as they prepare for next holiday season. It’s going to be an incredible five star Grand Opening experience in one of the most glorious settings in the world!
CD: Any movie star sightings? Some of our friends were splashing with Reese Witherspoon.
Phillip: We had a few. I saw Richard Gere and started to tell him about you but I’m sure it would have made Walter jealous.
CD: What happens in BahaMar stays in BahaMar. How’s my boyfriend, Sean Connery?
Phillip: Playing golf every day at Lyford Cay. Don’t get too excited, Candy. He plays golf with his wife.
CD: So I take it that with the purchase of a home at BahaMar, I could be escaping this frozen hell-hole as long as Jet Blue doesn’t cancel my flight out there, or Southwest doesn’t land in Cincinnati by mistake?
Phillip: Absolutely! The trip from Dallas is so easy. My favorite is the direct flight American offers from DFW to Nassau.
CD: How much to get me in the door – a pied a terre, a studio, a room with an electric kettle – anywhere to get my beauty sleep in-between sundown and dawn?
Phillip: Our prices start at just over $1,000,000 for a fully furnished one bedroom residence. But you have two children who will want to come with you and Walter so you should look at the larger residences. We have two and three bedroom residences along with a handful of stunning four bedroom villas. As I’m sure you remember from your visit here earlier in the year, all of our residences come equipped with phenomenal ocean views and an easy path to the white beaches.
CD: Oh I remember. Sales going well?
Phillip: We are very, very pleased with our sales thus far. In fact, we just sold a gorgeous Mondrian residence about an hour ago to a wonderful Montreal-based family!
CD: Where are most of the buyers coming from?
Phillip: Baha Mar owners will truly represent the world. We have many purchasers from, of course, the United States and Canada. But we also have buyers from as far away as China, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, France, Italy, Venezuela and Brazil.
CD: And the opening is in less than a year…
Phillip: Grand Opening will be in December of this year and, because it is a single-phase development, all of the amenities will be unveiled together. It’s so much fun to see everything take shape. You see the beautiful architecture becoming a reality, the grass of the Nicklaus Signature golf course growing in, the Bellagio-style show fountains being built, etc… and it just takes your breath away. The level of luxury that Baha Mar will provide will truly be something the Caribbean has never seen before. But maybe the best thing to see is the incredible team of professionals Baha Mar has assembled. I’ve never seen such passion for a single goal – to provide the ultimate resort experience to our owners and guests. Baha Mar is going to blow people away!
