Just three miles long and a half-mile wide, Harbour Island is known by many as the “Nantucket of the Bahamas,” beloved for its authentic local flavor, pitch-perfect scenery, and unassuming privacy. Famous for its long pink sand beaches, the island is protected by outlying coral reefs like the Devil’s Backbone that are home to turtles and stingrays and make the surrounding turquoise waters one of the best swimming and snorkeling destinations in the Caribbean. The island also offers English Colonial-style buildings in pastel shades, quaint boutique hotels, and restaurants and lots of easygoing old-world charm.
According to Forbes, Harbour Island “is quietly becoming the crown jewel of the Caribbean.” Its only hub, historic Dunmore Town, was the original capital of the Bahamas, named after the governor of the Bahamas from 1786 to 1798, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore. It’s completely car-free — and it’s plenty easy to get around without one.
Just outside of town lies the private Briland Club, which stretches from beach to bay across 27 lush acres. The exclusive club on the southern and less developed part of the island has just launched a collection of turnkey waterfront Coral Cottages that are part of the Briland Club Residences.
This two-story cottage features a ground-floor residence (Unit 2) as well as an upstairs one (Unit 1). Both condos offer 2,100 square feet of indoor-outdoor living space with two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and a powder room. And both have wide-angle harborfront and water views.
The island-chic décor and designs are by the inimitable Bunny Williams, the doyenne of New York high style and an Architectural Digest Hall of Fame designer. She kept the furnishings simple and casually elegant, just what you want for beach-side living.
Architectural and design details include open-plan living spaces, grand eight-foot-wide doors, high cypress wood ceilings painted white, seven-inch wide-plank hardwood floors throughout, ceiling fans, tucked-away closets with stacked washer/dryer units, and covered terraces with doors that fold back for an optimal indoor-outdoor feel. Sunset cocktails, anyone?
The open kitchens feature Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances, painted cabinetry, Caesarstone countertops (bathrooms, too), and Trocadero mosaic tile backsplashes. The bathrooms offer shiplap walls and enclosed showers with glass doors and Calacatta gold marble walls. The primary also has an Restoration Hardware soaking tub.
Briland Club offers each owner year-round security, maintenance and landscaping, along with a host of optional resident services, including concierge and booking services, housekeeping, technology setup, and assistance and stocking the unit with food and beverages. And both cottages are eligible for the rental program when not in use by the owners.
For big-boaters, Briland has the most coveted marina in the Caribbean, with 28 berths for megayachts up to 300 feet in length. The boat-watching just outside your cottage windows is sublime.
And Briland Club continues to draw great press. In a January article, Travel + Leisure described it as a “refined pocket of paradise within a paradise.”