Location. Kalorama has what we regard as one of the most private and desirable lots in the exclusive Virgin Grand Estates. This is a quiet neighborhood of recently built, multi million dollar luxury villas. Kalorama’s closest neighbors include the gorgeous villas, Rapture, Ces’t Blue and Vista Caribe, Kalorama sits on a slight knoll at an elevation of more than 600 feet and has a view similar to the absolutely outstanding views of Sunset Vista. The views stretch more than 180 degrees from the southeast to the northwest, and sweep past the islands of St Croix, St. James, St. Thomas, Hans Lollick, and Lovango. The sunset views are dazzling, and the twinkling lights of St. Thomas provide beautiful evening views.

There is very little road noise in this peaceful setting and there is sufficient privacy for clothing optional sunbathing. From your deck the sun arcs across the Caribbean Sea and provides you with an ever-changing, all day panorama of color, and the warm Caribbean sun paints your three sun decks from 9am to sunset. About a quarter-mile walk below you are the restaurants, beach, fitness room and Spa of the Westin Resort, while the renowned restaurants and shops of Cruz Bay are a 10-12 minute drive, entirely on paved roads.

Design. This is an impressive contemporary design that consists of a 2-level main house and a 1- level pool house. Kalorama is bold, with a 50 x 22 foot great room with a 14 foot ceiling. But it’s also quite elegant, with marble and ipe (an exotic hardwood) floors, stone walls, marble decks, Doric columns, designer lighting and sipelli cabinets.

You park on the north side of the house and enter into the great room. On the south and west sides of the great room are Fleetwood screened glass doors. Slide the doors and screens open – they’re 10 feet tall and very heavy, but they move so effortlessly that a cat could push them open – and the entire living room converts to a lanai. Where did the support columns go? A half bath is conveniently located on the right behind the kitchen, while a laundry room with washer and dryer is also behind the kitchen on the left. Interior and exterior stairs lead up to 3 bedroom/baths and a large sundeck on the upper level of the main house.

The pool house is on the same level as the great room; it contains two equally sized bedrooms and two baths.

The Living Room. This room can be a living room with three walls or it can be a lanai with just one wall, depending on whether you open the effortless sliding glass doors. At the heart of this room is a 52 inch Sony satellite TV/DVD with a 5-speaker surround sound system plus an iPod dock. There’s also a wireless internet connection. Just outside the track for the glass doors is a covered marble deck with cushioned chairs, but with the doors open, the outdoor deck blends completely into the living room. The visual and open-air effects of this contemporary design are (pardon us for saying this), totally cool.

The interior dining area is three steps above the living area and it seats 8. For dining outside, a hardwood table with a knockout view seats 4 – 8 in the corner of the deck.

Kitchen. This chic, trendy restaurant-style kitchen looks great and performs as good as it looks. It is a working space that puts the chef(s) right in the mix. The heart of the kitchen is a stainless steel 6-burner hooded gas stove with both standard and convection ovens. The stove is surrounded by Kitchen Aid stainless steel appliances, including a refrigerator/freezer, dishwasher, microwave oven, double sink, icemaker plus a Cuisinart food processor, coffee maker, toaster, and two blenders. The island/bar stretches for 15 feet and includes a trough sink plus and a wet sink and lots of work space. A stainless barbeque grill is off the kitchen on the pool deck.

The east (left) pool bedroom

The two poolside bedrooms are equal in size (15 x 16) and have king beds, marble floors and sipelli built-in cabinets and fixtures that give the bedrooms a clean, crisp and elegant look. Each bedroom is fully screened and has a/c, a 27 inch satellite TV, and a custom built desk, closet and chest of drawers. The tiled baths have exterior showers.

The main house twins bedroom

There are three bedrooms in the main house. All are on the upper level and each has a/c and is fully screened. The two king bedrooms are both large (250 sq/ft) and include satellite color TV. One of the king bedrooms has a beautiful ipe floor while the other king bedroom has a marble floor and opens to a large sundeck. The fifth bedroom (2 twins) is smaller (120 sq/ft) and designed for children 10 years and older.

Caribbean Villas’ Comments. St John is an island of mostly traditional home designs. In fact, Kalorama is the first modern/contemporary (so called California style) home that we have offered in our 20 plus years of managing villas on St. John. We were - dare we say - a bit skeptical, maybe even a bit naïve, regarding contemporary villas. So we spent a lot of staff time up at Kalorama - examining, reviewing, discussing and dissecting this very unique home. The seven Caribbean Villas staff who reviewed this home are in complete agreement – Kalorama is a definite winner. It’s chic but elegant, spacious but intimate, clean, crisp and classy. But mostly, it’s a very livable and lovable vacation home.

Kalorama’s highlights include;

• a 1100 sq/ft great room that is like no other on St. John. The north side of the great room is a beautiful 14 foot (tall) stone and ipe (hardwood) wall, but the south and west sides are Fleetwood glass walls that vanish with a gentle push. The walls are complimented by marble floors, exotic hardwoods and Doric columns. It’s big, bold and quite lovely,
• a 52 inch satellite flat screen TV/DVD and stereo with a 5-speaker surround sound system with an iPod dock, plus a wireless internet connection. We gave the sound system the full Bon Jovi sound test and we (and a few boaters in Great Cruz Bay) can tell you that it puts out an excellent quality - and level - of sound,
• every room in this villa (except the twin’s bedroom) opens to the south or west to provide lots of light, gentle breezes and beautiful views - which are three core elements of St. John living. However, every room is also fully screened, and the bedrooms all have curtains or blinds and are efficiently air conditioned,
• the pool is a big one (40 x 12) and it’s bordered by two even larger sundecks, and there’s another large sundeck on the upper level. All the sundecks get all day sun, and the location offers enough privacy for clothing optional sunbathing,
• the day, evening and sunset views are outstanding – this is definitely one of St. John’s most popular views,
• The night lighting creates a very lovely and an oh so-o romantic evening atmosphere.

This a superb house for entertaining or relaxing, and the design works equally well for families, couples or mixed groups. If you’re an admirer of Beacon Hill, Georgetown or East Side classic architecture who feels that “contemporary homes are not my style,” Kalorama will change your outlook, as it did ours. If, on the other hand, you’re a devotee of contemporary styled luxury homes - after all our years of doing business on St. John, we can finally and enthusiastically say to you – Welcome Home!