The location for this addition and renovation  is a 1980’s  ranch-style house, nondescript save for its lush tropical setting and a stone terrace in a hidden corner of the property. The client, an expat, wanted to create a home which would grace its established Georgetown neighborhood and remind him  of his native South Africa. The stone worked perfectly as a metaphor as it is common to both vernaculars, expresses a connection to the earth and is indicative of a thriving local craft.

The front, rear and sides of the house are linked by grafting an open carport, a trellised entry pavilion, outdoor kitchen and wine cellar to the respective facades, using local limestone as the main material. Internally,the floor plan is opened up to create a contiguous living/ dining/ entertaining  space,  the floors and walls clad  in bold colours and textures to act as backdrop to the owner’s collection of African and Caribbean art.

In a sense the architecture speaks to a  peculiarly Caribbean tableaux of contrasts, but more importantly it blurs the distinction between old and new such that the addition might seem at times to have always been there.