A multi-level residence on the steep hillsides of St. John, where the terrain made a conventional plan impossible and a more interesting one necessary. The programme — a main house and a standalone cottage — is dispersed across the site and connected by a series of exterior staircases, with a central terrace functioning as the shared outdoor heart of the development. Each unit has its own entrance, its own terrace, and its own relationship to the site.
The design treats the slope as an organisational tool rather than an obstacle. Privacy and views are the two variables around which everything else is resolved — including the master suite, which sits on its own level with dedicated stair access entirely separate from the main house circulation.
Location St. John, United States Virgin Islands
Typology: Residential new build
Services: Architectural construction drawings, permit obtaining
Built area: approx 3015 sq.ft./280 sq.m.
Status: Under construction
Structural engineering: Paul Ferreras, Walt Basnight
Estimated construction budget: 1M USD
The main house is organised across three levels. The ground floor holds the main living spaces — living room, kitchen, and laundry room — opening to the central terrace that connects the two structures. The master suite occupies the upper floor, accessed by a private exterior staircase independent of the rest of the house. Two additional bedrooms and technical spaces complete the programme, with the latter tucked into the basement level where the hillside provides natural containment.
A self-contained single-bedroom unit with its own entrance, terrace, bathroom, and storage. Physically separate from the main house and independently accessible — it functions as a private guest suite or a rentable unit without compromising the privacy of either occupant.
The parking area sits at the uppermost point of the site, with a sequence of exterior staircases descending through the levels to the central terrace below. All internal circulation between volumes is exterior — the staircases are the connective tissue of the project, and the site section is the plan.
