My Houzz: Island Life and Love in the Bahamas
Fifty years of devotion begets two handmade open-air cottage homes on a private tropical island
I am a Colorado-based freelance designer, journalist and photographer. I love documenting the many beautiful ways people create and love their homes.
I am a Colorado-based freelance designer, journalist and photographer.... More »
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Dave and Phoebe Gale traveled to the Bahamas as newlyweds in 1954 and never left. After nearly 60 years of marriage, the couple has never owned a car, connecting to the outside world from their 5-acre island, Parrot Cay, entirely by boat.
In 2011 Dave published a book chronicling their island life, titled Below Another Sky: a Bahama Memoir (Caribe Publishing). Here we offer some descriptions from the book to accompany our own photos of the home, aptly named the Open House, and of their original island shelter, Gale-O-Wind, now a rental cottage. The main home is inspired by the designs of legendary Florida architect Alfred Browning Parker, which are known for being "bathed in moving air," as Dave writes.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Dave and Phoebe Gale
Location: Parrot Cay, near Great Abaco Island, Bahamas
Size: Main house: 1,500 square feet; 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms; rental cottage: 600 square feet; 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
That's interesting: The Gales leased their island land for $28 a year from the Queen of England before finally purchasing it from her in 1965.
In 2011 Dave published a book chronicling their island life, titled Below Another Sky: a Bahama Memoir (Caribe Publishing). Here we offer some descriptions from the book to accompany our own photos of the home, aptly named the Open House, and of their original island shelter, Gale-O-Wind, now a rental cottage. The main home is inspired by the designs of legendary Florida architect Alfred Browning Parker, which are known for being "bathed in moving air," as Dave writes.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Dave and Phoebe Gale
Location: Parrot Cay, near Great Abaco Island, Bahamas
Size: Main house: 1,500 square feet; 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms; rental cottage: 600 square feet; 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
That's interesting: The Gales leased their island land for $28 a year from the Queen of England before finally purchasing it from her in 1965.
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by Brenda Olde
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| The Main Home A carefully raked sand path lined with conch shells leads the way from the dock to the main home. Dave's design for the Open House follows Parker's philosophy, which, he writes, “emphasized horizontal space, openness and projecting roofs that would connect with nature and the tropical environment while taking advantage of the outdoors and natural breezes." The main house is designed to embrace the sea breezes and the vivid hues of the water that surrounds it. "Sixty-five percent of [its] true 'walls' are not walls at all, but doors or windows or louvers to the floor, in two buildings joined by decks," according to Dave. "We have no screens." |
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| While the couple has been on Parrot Cay since 1958, they have lived in the larger Open House only since 1968. Before that they designed and built three small cottages on the island. |
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| Every corner is adorned with maritime souvenirs and original art created by Dave's parents, sculptor Eleanor S. Gale and architect Dermot W. Gale. The painting under the ceiling eaves in the living room is by Dave's father. |
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| The house evolved into a single-floor pavilion wrapped in an innovative system of louvered redwood shutters. The couple designed and built the home with 10 large openings, creating a total of 24 doors, five full-length redwood louvered openings and five ordinary awning-type windows. The 29 wood and glass multifold doors provide ventilation and light. |
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| The couple designed their home with hurricane protection in mind. “Due to the complete destruction of the two largest houses in this part of Abaco during Hurricane Betsy in 1965, Phoebe and I decided to build lower, in two small buildings joined by decks," Dave writes. The living room, dining room and kitchen are under one roof (shown here), and the bedrooms and baths are under another. Decks surround the entire home. "This accomplished two of our objectives: smaller, lower roofs and greater cooling air flow in all rooms,” writes Dave. See ways to hurricane proof your house |
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The island home is truly a family affair. Although Dave designed the structures, he received counsel from his architect father. This sculpture on the front deck, created by his mother, is titled "David Gazes Seaward."
When Dave designed and built the Open House, the couple's two sons were 8 months and 2 years old. One of their sons returned after graduating from college to run the family boat rental business. He lives in a third cottage on the island with his family.
When Dave designed and built the Open House, the couple's two sons were 8 months and 2 years old. One of their sons returned after graduating from college to run the family boat rental business. He lives in a third cottage on the island with his family.
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| The open yard, with hanging fishing floats, provides peaceful ocean views. See how to decorate with fishing floats indoors |
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| The Rental Cottage The couple built a seaside shelter in 1958, which evolved into this cottage. Fondly called Gale-O-Wind, it was their home for their first 10 years on Parrot Cay and is now rented out to visitors. |
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| Dave and Phoebe slowly built their cottage using leftover materials from a resort they were helping to build on another nearby island. To start, it was just one room, commonly called a snore box. |
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| “Phoebe and I designed our cottage while sitting on the site and by climbing a stepladder to see the view above the trees at various times of the day," Dave writes, "but its design was completely dictated by the materials that our boss would let us have." |
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| "We were able to scrape up enough 2-by-4s, siding and tar paper for a 20-by-20 roof, but only enough materials for half that much foundation, floor and walls, so we held up the extra 10 feet of roof with galvanized pipes and made a sandy floor under it," Dave writes. "We had neither a bathroom nor kitchen, for it was only a place to sleep.” |
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| The snore box is now the living room of the cottage. As the couple lived there, the cottage evolved: They added the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen and beautiful seaside patios. Today the impeccably kept home is exactly the same as when it was first built. The original galvanized pipes still hold up much of the roof. When Phoebe and Dave designed the cottage, they carefully drew plans that called for 6- and 8-foot side doors. "The top half of this wide door was pulled up by ropes and blocks (pulleys) or simply pushed up and held there by sticks on either side," Dave describes. "The bottom half of the door swung open in two halves hinging back against the cottage walls. The design was very practical, for [the doors] were all wood, with nothing to import except hinges. They allowed the cooling breezes to flow through when open, and when hooked closed became hurricane shutters.” |
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| The open-air kitchen features a hibiscus vase that has hung in this same place since 1958. |
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| The cottage bedroom opens up to a patio and beautiful view. |
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| Built-in storage is a practical addition to the relaxing bedroom space. |
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| A gum elemi tree planted decades ago still stands on one of the two dining patios. |
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| The cottage's front patio provides front-row seats to the sea view. |
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| Dave and Phoebe pose for a picture outside their cottage. The Gales have built four homes, established a boat rental business, raised two sons and traveled the world. Over the course of more than 50 years, through devotion, artistic innovation and love, they transformed this once-uninhabited cay into a beautiful Bahamian oasis. Houzz call: Share your island home with us |
Ideabook updated on Dec. 11, 2012.
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Thank you for sharing and inspiring!
Just love the hibiscus in the old lantern too!
funny you should ask- I just typed in Parrot Cay Bahamas vrbo and their rental came up !! Just go to VRBO listing #75620 should come up.
Wonderful. I think we're all a bit envious.
Thank you for sharing.
My family and I recently moved down to the Caribbean, and this is exactly the type of house and life story I want.
Thank you to Dave and Phoebe for sharing!
I love this bright cheerful house and how they have managed to keep it simple but interesting. I have been thinking ahead for how my husband and I will downsize as we get older but sill have some privacy. Not too small and definitely not too big this house looks like a perfect fit. Bravo!