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Dream homes in paradise
Some people just know how to live
Some people really know how to live. Just take a look at some of the palatial estates in Lyford Cay, Old Fort Bay and on Paradise Island. They all have a “wow” factor, because they express the utmost in luxury, architectural style and discerning taste. They also fulfill, it should go without saying, the venerated prerequisite of real estate: “location, location, location.”
So if you demand nothing but the best, and if money is no object, you can begin and end your search for the home of your dreams right here.
Certain residential areas have been synonymous with luxurious living for a long time. The apex of the real estate pyramid, most agree, is Lyford Cay in western New Providence, although other enclaves vie for a close second.
Developed in the 1950s, this gated community is still considered to be one of the most exclusive addresses on the island, if not in the entire Caribbean area. Residents with substantial assets both old and new enjoy a private golf course, a spacious marina and lavish canalfront and beachfront homes with spectacular views.
More high-end properties are located on Eastern Road along the shoreline east of Nassau proper, an area long inhabited by old Bahamian families of means and wealthy expats. Other residences for the well heeled can be found on Cable Beach; on Skyline Drive along the north shore of Lake Cunningham, just south of Cable Beach; and on the beachfront between Cable Beach
and Lyford Cay.
Opulent properties
And then there’s incomparable Paradise Island, a well-named place for some of the most opulent properties, many of them a bold statement of the ultimate in luxury. Like other marquee residences on New Providence, some of these include private docking for your yacht, staff quarters, guest houses, designer swimming pools and many custom-crafted appointments.
One of the showpiece homes for sale there now is named Casa DeLeon, located in prestigious Ocean Club Estates on 120 ft of beachfront. The very picture of luxury, this 9,500 sq ft home has five bedrooms, 61⁄2 bathrooms, a 25-ft atrium with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking an infinity-edge swimming pool, a state-of-the-art media room and what the listing agency describes as “every possible luxury.”
Ocean Club Estates offers homeowners the use of a golf course, tennis courts, a marina, a beach club and the facilities at the One&Only Ocean Club and the Atlantis resort. The price tag for Casa DeLeon? A steal at $18 million.
Another custom-built beachfront home for sale in Ocean Club Estates is a classic two-storey Mediterranean-style residence with four bedrooms and 41⁄2 bathrooms in a 6,200 sq ft floor plan.
Desirably located on a cul-de-sac, it affords a panoramic view of the beach and sea and includes an infinity pool, a grand staircase leading to a master suite that covers most of the second floor, a home office, a two-car garage and lush landscaped grounds. It’s listed at $8,995,000.
If you’d prefer to spend less money to live in this part of Paradise Island, but not on the beach, you could buy a four-bedroom, 41⁄2-bath residence built in 2003 on the second hole of the Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course, near the clubhouse.
This posh 4,300 sq ft home features a long covered porch that overlooks the expansive pool and deck area and the golf course, a master bedroom with a stone-finished bathroom featuring a whirlpool and deck and a double garage with guest quarters above. You can buy this tropically landscaped property for $3,800,000.
Something more sedate
Although Paradise Island offers dream homes aplenty, you may prefer to live on the more sedate side of New Providence, on the northwest coast, where you could enjoy living in a grand Old Fort Bay residence. One premier home for sale here sits on an oversized 1.5-acre beach-to-canal parcel, overlooking 225 ft of scenic beachfront.
This 7,000 sq ft home includes five bedrooms and 51⁄2 bathrooms, live-in maid’s quarters, a media room and a second-floor study with a panoramic view, along with his-and-her bathrooms in the master suite and his-and-her offices. The property extends to a canal, where the owners can tie up their yacht. The listing price? $12 million.
Another distinctive Old Fort Bay mansion is a two-storey colonial located on Canal Beach. Amenities include a large swimming pool, two guest suites with terraces, a double garage with a gardener’s room, a 1,500 sq ft guest suite with a full kitchen above the garage and a dock with a boat lift. All this can be yours for $4.5 million.
If a $17 million price doesn’t give you sticker shock, then you can buy a sprawling, one-of-a-kind Old Fort Bay estate called Creek House, situated on 2.5 acres between the sea and mangrove-fringed canals.
This secluded property has the ambience of a private island. It includes 10,000 sq ft of living space in a main house, guest house, guest cottage and staff apartment, all connected by winding paths and vine-covered breezeways.
Sun decks, patios and verandas surround a tropical central garden with a pool, and a path through a terraced woodland garden leads to two thatch-roofed beach cabanas. The property also includes a 60-ft dock on a deepwater canal.
Real estate prices for properties like these may seem stratospheric, but the numbers have dropped significantly since 2008, when the recession first gripped the world. Before then, prices were overinflated, especially in the high end of the market. Buyers can now acquire properties priced at a more realistic level.
Sales have remained fairly strong in some specific areas. “Paradise Island has had good sales, in many cases at reduced prices,” one realtor says, citing Ocean Club Estates as a particularly hot spot.
Whatever the cost of your fantasy home may be, all realtors agree that this is an opportune time to buy a dream home in The Bahamas.
Note: The availability and prices of homes listed in this article were in effect at the end of 2010 and are subject to change.
Seaview Properties, tel 327-1566, e-mail info@seaviewproperties.com, or visit www.seaviewproperties.bs.
Caves Heights, tel 327-8867, e-mail info@cavesheights.com, or visit www.cavesheights.com.
Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty, tel 322-2305 or 362-4211, e-mail info.Bahamas@SothebysRealty.com, or visit www.SIRbahamas.com
Bahamas Realty, tel 396-0000, e-mail info@bahamasrealty.bs, or visit www.BahamasRealty.bs.
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IsldLiving_DreamHomes_WBN11
Dream homes in paradise
Some people just know how to live
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