Old Queens Fort, St. James

St. Helena

An Oliver Messel beach house on the West Coast, with 8 bedrooms, gardens, a pool and its own budgerigar aviary

8 bedrooms

8 bathrooms

Sleeps 16

Beachfront

Housekeeping included

About

About this villa

St. Helena sits on the West Coast at Old Queens Fort, St. James, a short step from white sand and water that is genuinely good for swimming. The house was designed by the late Oliver Messel and later updated by local architect Larry Warren, and it still carries the feel of old colonial Barbados, set among tropical gardens running down towards the sea. The main house has 5 bedrooms. Downstairs you will find two sitting rooms opening onto a covered dining patio facing the garden and sea, plus two air-conditioned bedrooms each with their own bathroom. This level also has an alfresco dining area, a bar, and a partly covered pool deck with fountains carved from local coral stone. Upstairs are three more bedrooms, including a principal room known as the Napoleon Room, with a canopied bed and its own sitting room or study. All the upstairs bedrooms open onto a wide curved verandah with a bar and lounge seating, looking over the gardens and the Caribbean. In 2014 the owners added a separate 3 bedroom cottage in the gardens, overlooking both the pool and the sea. Rented with the main house, it brings the property to 8 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms in total, sleeping up to 16. There is also an aviary in the grounds, home to 250 homing budgerigars, and a gazebo set among the gardens between the house and the beach for dining outdoors. Staff are part of the stay at St. Helena, on hand throughout to look after guests and keep the day to day running of the house and gardens taken care of.

Bedrooms