Calabash Jumby Bay Retreat
A lush, tropical oasis made entirely of native plants to conserve the island’s fragile ecosystem

Only accessible by boat, the remote Jumby Bay island off the northeast coast of Antigua is the site of an exclusive Caribbean beach-front villa retreat in the midst of a nature conservation zone. It is here that Enea designed a garden landscape composed of purely native plants, in keeping with the island’s environmental conservation initiative. The concept of this award-winning garden focused on creating mystery and discovery through a lush, park-like oasis while incorporating and protecting the over 200 existing trees and palms on-site. This project demonstrates the power of landscape architecture and close collaboration to create a vibrant, long-lasting, ecological, sensorial, meaningful experience with respect to a site’s region.

When this small, 300-acre island, formed from a volcano approximately 30 million years ago, became a British colony most of the forests on the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, including Jumby Bay, were cleared and numerous invasive species have since appeared, which has been catastrophic for the islands’ biodiversity. Currently on Jumby Bay Island one finds rolling pastures with sheep grazing freely – a view perhaps more typical of England than of a tropical Caribbean Island. As a consequence, the islands have been struggling to save their palm trees, especially the coconut palm population; about 45% have been decimated by lethal yellowing. At the same time, the country has strict regulations regarding importing plant material due to the fear of importing pests or blights not native to Antigua and Barbuda, and Enea needed to give careful attention to the plant selection to comply with these laws and respect the island’s ecological fragility.

The client wanted a lush, private garden that reflected his preference for native, tropical plant life. However, the lawn on the nearly 4800m2 plot dominated the prevailing landscape and detracted from the diversity of the ecosystems. Fortunately, there were over 200 existing trees and plants on the property. To maximize the site’s potential as a wildlife habitat, a number of measures needed to be implemented. The Enea team accomplished these by utilizing the plants already on site to create shade but also a unique character with a diverse atmosphere, while adapting to the site conditions. The Enea design team assessed the existing plant material and rebalanced the entire site to create overall harmony and organization with elements of surprise. The main house, bungalows and private outdoor spaces are completely enveloped in green, and swimming in the infinity pool or directly in the ocean by means of private beach access can be enjoyed in complete privacy. The harmonious integration of outdoor and indoor areas has created a seamless experience between nature and architectural space.

The arrival sequence begins with the native Black Calabash (Amphitecna latifolia), for which the project was named, flanking the entrance of the site. The cobblestone entryway meanders through a grove of relocated bullet trees (Bucida buceras) sitting within lawn, which creates calmness while driving through the mature, majestic trees. The winding driveaway opens to a courtyard of the main house and carport. On both sides of the entrance to the main house, low rain-capturing water features with fragrant water lily (Nymphea odorata) add the soft sound of trickling water. Passsionfruit (Passiflora spp.) engulfs the carriage houses to promote biophilic design and create additional greenness around the architecture.

To create privacy from the adjacent properties, the side gardens were restored and enhanced with relocated palms, ficus trees (Ficus benjamina), tamarind trees (Tamarindus indica) and existing mango trees (Mangifera indica) and complemented with sea grape (Coccoloba uvifera) and waves of understory planting with various textures including Florida gamagrass (Tripsacum floridana), swan-neck agave (Agave attenuata) and moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora). The side gardens, which are used mostly as service corridors to the backyard, were designed as secret, winding pathways through diverse palm trees. All paths are organically shaped, with trees and underplanting strategically placed along the walkways. This design concept helps to make the garden a mysterious place to be explored, creating an atmosphere of continuous discovery. Guests are encouraged to use their curiosity and to constantly experience new facets of this unique garden.

The veranda of the main house is a generous space for outdoor dining and entertaining and was designed by the architect to be open towards the pool garden and the sea, blurring the line between inside and outside. Colorful groundcover such as moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora) and bayhops (Ipomoea pes-caprae) embrace the pool; such rich vegetation creates valuable havens for wildlife including the Great Egret.

The success of this project can be attributed to the cooperation and teamwork from start to finish. The Enea design team – world experts in tree transplantation – guided the client through the entire design and construction phases and engaged a landscape contractor who specialized in tree relocation. The landscape contractor together with the design team shipped supplies to the property to properly mentor the local construction team on how to carefully root prune trees and then relocate and plant them. Everyone working on the project was excited and engaged in the learning process. The local landscape contractor team was trained, mentored and guided by the Enea team throughout construction, imparting the skills to maintain this garden into the future. Through this collaboration, Enea created a symbiotic relationship that conserved over 200 trees, transformed the property into a lush oasis with deep respect for Caribbean flora and as an advocate for its conservation.

See more about Calabash under jumby-calabash.com/