Building her dream beach house is the biggest art project ever undertaken by Avril Ward.
So says the artist who is well known in the Cayman Islands and beyond for her bold canvases.
She and her husband Nicholas had long aspired to build a seaside residence, acquiring an ocean-front lot in Bodden Town several years ago, close to the home they already owned.
They then spent half a decade imagining and designing Casa Avi, along with the help of an architect friend visiting from Avril’s native South Africa.
“I was pretty clear on what I wanted,” says Avril. “This house is a culmination of so many places we have travelled and seen. We’ve taken what we loved, and remembered most, and reshuffled it into what works for us.”
This included a hotel in Los Angeles where the rooms had an angled wooden slatted ceiling, a room in Cape Town featuring a bedroom mezzanine with kitchen underneath, as well the bright colours and designs inspired by trips to Central America.
These elements were incorporated into the new house and carefully tailored for the couple’s Cayman lifestyle.
ECLECTIC DESIGN
“Casa Avi is a complete eclectic mix,” says Avril. “If I had to define it, I would say industrial/contemporary/farmhouse, which is a contradiction in terms. This is because I love mixing old and new. I have upcycled doors and furniture, yet the modern architecture and raw exposed-concrete beams and a floating staircase is very industrial.”
The property enjoys spectacular views over the sand and the constantly changing colours of Grand Cayman’s south coast waters, along with refreshing sea breezes.
“The ocean sound is most relaxing and calming, and watching it has the same effect for us, so having a view from every room was important,” adds Avril.
As an artist, Avril intentionally included wall space to display her work.
“When I was furnishing, I started putting my paintings up and they all worked so well, I could have used any of them,” she says. “I think this is testimony to the design being true to myself/my style, so the artwork just works, each piece looking like it was created exactly for each spot.”
She also created a sea fan installation for one of the king suites, wanting a beach theme without the obvious accessories.
“I sealed sea fans I found on the beach and suspended them at different heights on a wall,” she explains.
UPCYCLING
Avril has a passion for upcycling and repurposing, with a painting and decorating business which she describes as “coming in handy”.
They made all the doors with either upcycled pallet wood or tongue-and-groove floorboards, as well as many bespoke furniture pieces, including a bed and headboard, entrance tables and the downstairs 10-seater table.
“I work in concrete, too, so we also built the curved bathroom vanity and concrete-and-wood movable island,” says Avril. “I even upcycled the trees we originally had to cut down on the lot: I used a palm tree base for pot planters and made arty rustic fencing and a gate from the sea grape trees.”
COLOUR SCHEME
In terms of colour, Avril has opted for a mix of a plain palette and splashes of colour in different areas of the house.
“I love natural fabrics, and prefer texture over colour, so upstairs I have gone with animal skin rugs, leather, wood, glass, and metal, a very neutral palette,” she says. “I generally don’t use trendy tiles as they date a home, so I painted a mural in the kitchen, made a resin countertop and used a waterproof wall finish in all the bathrooms. I did decide to go with admiral blue kitchen cupboards for a bit of colour, though.”
Supporting small businesses, Avril also bought custom handmade pieces and drapes on the Etsy website.
“The downstairs is a contrast of dramatic colour and pattern, with Mexican tiles and an intense ultramarine blue paint and pool tiles,” she says. “We had the Mexican sink and tiles that we had bought on a trip, for years in my closet, knowing some day we would use them. I did source some key pieces from local stores and a couple of interesting second-hand pieces, locally, too.”
One of the first things she bought on-island, before even breaking ground, was a heavy metal, tiered chandelier, which is now in the downstairs bathroom, to contrast against the curved zinc cladding.
Building Cas Avi was not without obstacles, including customising the design and finishings to the couple’s specific style, navigating red tape, difficulties with imports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and shutting the construction site during lockdown.
“But the love and determination I put into it is all worth it,” says Avril. “It is the most challenging artwork I have created.”
This article appears in the Autumn/Winter 2021 issue of InsideOut magazine, now available at magazine stands and delivered to select homes in eco-tote bags sponsored by LIVING.KY.
