On the Rocks St. John - A two-story residence on a steep hillside site, entered from above and stepping down toward the water.
The site set the terms. A steep hillside dropping toward the water, with arrival at the ridge and the best of the landscape reserved for those willing to descend into it. The design question was one of sequence — how to move through the site rather than resolve it.
The response is a building that offsets floor by floor, following the hillside rather than fighting it. A double-height entrance opens into the volume; bedrooms occupy the upper floor with private terraces; the living space, pool terrace, and continued descent to the ocean sit below. A self-contained two-bedroom apartment beneath the parking gives the property independent flexibility for guests or rental use.
Completed and currently available as a vacation rental, the residence treats descent as the primary architectural experience — a house you move through rather than simply occupy.
Location St. John, United States Virgin Islands
Typology: Residential new build
Services: Architectural construction drawings, permit obtaining
Built area: approx 5000 sq.ft./460 sq.m.
Status: Finalized
Structural engineering: Paul Ferreras, Walt Basnight
Code compliance: Rose Elswick Maunder
General contractor: Brent Squires
Client: On The Rocks St. John
Estimated construction budget: 3M USD
Main floor
Lower floor
The lower floor is organized around the social core — living area, kitchen, and family room opening onto a pool terrace that overlooks the ocean. A third bedroom and the technical spaces, including cisterns embedded in the hillside, complete the level. A stair continues down to the site below.
The upper floor is entered directly from the covered parking terrace. The entrance opens into a double-height volume with immediate views through to the landscape, leading to the master suite and two further bedrooms, each with a private terrace.
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