Terra Online (St Lucia)
	Exclusive Land & Property Sales

Ref No: SU_018
	Status: For Sale Price Type: Asking Price Price: US$3,750,000 Type: Country Estate Beds: 6 Baths: 5 Lot Size: 4.85 acres Location: Soufriere Email us about this listing or contact TERRA ONLINE REAL ESTATE Anse de Sable Beach Vieux Fort Tel: (758) 485-7400 / 485-7401

Think Ladera Resort or Stonefield Estate and then add ‘Private Residence’ ...! Situated on one of the oldest sites of early-colonial settlement in St Lucia, within five minutes' easy stroll of lovely Malgrétoute Beach, this Estate House in Soufriere, radiates the kind of rare, natural ease that comes from having been selected as the obvious best place to build a residence in a century when good land was plentiful, and choice of prime location abundant.

The current estate house may ‘only’ date back to 1946 but just behind it are the remnants of an old cobbled road, which may well have been part of the Chémin Royal built by the French colonial administration in the mid 1700s. Long before that, the Amerindian Caribs and Arawaks occupied these lands and quite possibly worshipped here, at the very foot of the Petit Piton, as is evidenced by the presence of stone remnants of significant importance.

Besides a small wooden house built in the style of a slave hut - now used as a studio - the oldest building on this Estate is the main house, which was built right at the end of the Second World War, by a British family. Built from locally quarried natural stone, this house is a classic example of tropical design and construction at its best: a simple rectangular layout, 89' wide by 23' deep (2,047 sq ft), with an 8' deep covered verandah running the entire length of the house, in front of the bedrooms which are located at either end of the house. The verandah widens to 18' x 36' at the centre of its run where it forms a natural extension of the living and dining areas.

Both bedrooms feature king-size beds, an ensuite bathroom and walk-in closet. From the rear, a hallway gives access to the kitchen (140 sq ft) as well as to the dining area and out onto the verandah.

Glorious views of the Caribbean Sea greet the eye, framed by exotic Travellers' Palms, a huge tamarind tree and a large swimming pool while the looming, otherwordly shape of the Petit Piton rises up majestically above even the tallest trees.

With 4.85 acres of land, the Estate sits royally surrounded by gardens and tropical forest, refreshingly private yet with direct access to the Jalousie Road at two points. The higher access road leads to the 2-bedroom caretaker's house, which is built on pillars, partly in wood and partly in concrete. The lower access road winds through a private driveway to a covered parking area for two vehicles, next to a concrete garage/laundry/workshop area, which also houses a gardener's toilet and shower.

Off to one side of the main estate house, is the guesthouse, which was added by the current owners around 1990, and built of the same materials and in the same style as the main estate house. This consists of two bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, accessed individually from a verandah. Each room is approximately 200 sq ft large. One side of the guesthouse is occupied by a screened-in porch with lovely views of the garden. This room is geared up for easy conversion into a kitchen as well.

The Estate has all the usual modern infrastructure in place: mains water and electricity, telephone, and internet. At the same time, the rainwater is harvested off the roof tops, and the concrete back-up water tanks can store as much as 60,000 gallons of water, which is rendered perfectly drinkable by a simple, but ingenious purification system, low-cost and low-maintenance. The same goes for the swimming pool, which is kept clean with a computer-guided autopilot purification system which uses ordinary salt to create chlorine, rather than expensive and sometimes difficult to obtain chemicals.

All of the garden area around the various buildings is kept in a manicured state, but towards the rear of the property, the landscape almost imperceptibly reverts back to its more original state. Here, the undergrowth is controlled but abundant fruit trees are allowed to be interspersed by huge mahogany trees, and other magnificent species of flora including flame trees, immorteles, calabash trees, soursops, mangoes, tamarind, papaya, pigeon peas, bananas, plantains, numerous coconuts, Barbados cherries, gooseberry, breadfruit, guavas, perfume trees, flamboyants, grapefruits, limes, oranges, tangerines, almonds, cocoa, vanilla, cashew, coffee, plums, and huge, imposing Royal Palm trees for which this estate is famous.

In these past 23 years of ownership,the Estate has been maintained to high standards. This would make an exceptionally rare tropical private home in paradise, or could be transformed into an exclusive ultra-high-end boutique hotel for which Soufriere is nowadays world-famous.

The property is being sold largely furnished.

Tel: (758) 485-7400 / 485-7401 | Email: terra@slucia.com | Website: http://www.terrastlucia.com