For Architectural Digest, by Katherine McGrath.
Where better to vacation than in the Bahamas, the small cluster of islands in the West Indes? These show-stopping homes, designed by Tom Scheerer, Miles Redd, Alessandra Branca, and Andrew Raquet bring together the best of tropical decor: exotic patterns, vivid palettes, and a contemporary joie de vivre.
Decorator Tom Scheerer designed his Bahamas getaway as a compound comprising six pavilions interspersed with Coralina-stone terraces, gardens, and a swimming pool.
A framed Isamu Noguchi lantern, at right, presides over the living room’s two slipcovered Room & Board sofas, a Scheerer-designed cocktail table, and a hand-spun hemp rug from the Company Store. By the windows are a vintage open-weave lounge chair and a rocking chair from Indo Puri; the caned taborets are from VivaTerra.
Tom Scheerer
Rattan armchairs by Palecek nestle up to a vintage Saarinen table in the dining room; the vintage trophy horns are from Sage Street Antiques, and the hemp rug is from the Company Store.
Alessandra Branca
At Alessandra Branca's Bahamas home, the armoire and cocktail table in a sitting room are vintage, while the rattan chair is antique; the gouaches on either side of the window are by Anna Chiara Branca, the designer's mother.
Alessandra Branca
The kitchen of Alessandra Branca's Bahamas home is equipped with a Hunter ceiling fan and a Viking range and hood.
Alessandra Branca
In the dining room at Alessandra Branca's Bahamas getaway, pops of red from vintage chairs enliven an otherwise neutral palette.
Andrew Raquet
The Chinese Chippendale–style furniture on the porch and adjacent terrace is original to textile impresario John Knott's Bahamian cottage.
Andrew Raquet
Madagascar cloth from Quadrille lines the living room walls of an Andrew Raquet home in the Bahamas. An Alan Campbell fabric dresses the window; the vintage chairs and love seat are from 20th Century Gallery. The faux-bamboo screen was designed by Raquet, and the shell wall brackets are by Currey & Co.
Andrew Raquet
In a traditional Bahamian cottage, shell trees once owned by noted Nassau hostess Olive Baillie are displayed under bell jars in the entrance hall, alongside gouaches of Naples from Sutter Antiques.
Andrew Raquet
At a traditional cottage in the Bahamas, the bar can be concealed behind louvered doors.
Andrew Raquet
China Seas wallpaper turns the bedroom corridor into a trompe l'oeil birdcage at a traditional Bahamian cottage. The light fixture is by Vaughan.
Andrew Raquet
Dubbed the Bali Isle Room, the guest quarters of a cottage in the Bahamas combine a primitive-style China Seas wallpaper with citrus hues. The orange cotton throws are from Bamboo-Bamboo, the bed linens are by Matouk, and the rug is by Madeline Weinrib from ABC Carpet & Home.
Miles Redd
At a Lyford Cay vacation home designed by Miles Redd in the Bahamas, the existing grass-cloth wall covering in the television room was stenciled over by decorative artist Chris Pearson and hung with art, including parrot illustrations from Natural Curiosities; the Dune sectional is clad in an Osborne & Little fabric.
Miles Redd
At a family's retreat in the Bahamas, the kitchen's Hinson & Co. wall covering is offset by the floor's Benjamin Moore blue paint; the range is by Viking.
Miles Redd
In the master bedroom of a Lyford Cay retreat in the Bahamas, designer Miles Redd used the same sprightly fern print by Lee Jofa for the walls, curtains, and upholstery.
Miles Redd
A hallway of a Bahamas vacation home, painted in a Benjamin Moore blue, is lined with plaster palm trees; rugs from IKEA were stitched together to make the runner.
Miles Redd
A dining pavilion of a family's Bahamas retreat, which overlooks the pool, is lined with curtains made of an awning-stripe Perennials fabric.
Miles Redd
A dining pavilion of a family's Bahamas retreat, which overlooks the pool, is lined with curtains made of an awning-stripe Perennials fabric.
Miles Redd
In one daughter's room at a family's retreat in the Bahamas, the wall covering, curtains, and headboard upholstery are of complementary China Seas fabrics.
Miles Redd
The pool area of a family's Lyford Cay club vacation home in the Bahamas.
Miles Redd
Tented and lined with an Oscar de la Renta for Lee Jofa fabric, the dining room of a Bahamas vacation home features a chandelier by Stephen Antonson, plaster columns and urns by Architectural Sculptures, and chairs by Oscar de la Renta Home for Century Furniture; the console by Larrea Studio is paired with Ralph Lauren Home lamps and an RH mirror.
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