Villa Nougat: Where Engineering and Craft Meet Caribbean Living
Winch Design has completed Villa Nougat, a private residence on Pointe Milou, Saint Barthélemy, delivered in January 2026 in collaboration with island-based architect Xavier David.
The project began not with a set of requirements, but with a relationship. The clients, who have spent thirty years connected to St Barts, purchased the neighbouring plot to expand their family vacation home. What followed was a ground-up, bespoke process at every scale: 98 pieces of furniture designed from scratch, a 12-seat dining table sized to precisely the number of people this family entertains, and a villa that carries the family's name on everything from bathrobes to gym equipment.
"It's made for you, and it fits you perfectly," says Guy, Senior Associate, Architecture. "Like a bespoke shoe or a fully tailored suit. You won't see it in another magazine, because it doesn't exist anywhere else."
Shaped by the island
The interiors draw their palette directly from the island's own vernacular: whitewashed timbers, tropical hardwoods, a soft neutral base that lets the family's own life take centre stage. Each of the three guest suites is anchored to a different facet of St Barts. The ocean suite in blue onyx, the jungle suite in green onyx, and a mountain suite in materials that echo the landscape behind. Bamboo marquetry on the bedheads - a first for the studio - sits alongside petrified-wood plinths and cerused oak dressing units. Details that reward time.
The site itself set strict terms. Steep, coastal and hurricane-exposed for several months of the year, it demanded materials and engineering equal to the conditions. Planning restrictions added further parameters: a strict ratio between planted and built area, limits on ridge height and pool capacity. None of these were treated as obstacles. Each one shaped a decision.
Engineering at the core
St Barts has no mains electricity connection. All power is diesel-generated and supply is limited. Rather than request additional capacity, the team engineered their way around the problem entirely. The villa runs on roughly 30 megawatts of power against the 120 a comparable property would typically require.
At the heart of this is a bespoke smart building system. When a hairdryer or microwave switches on, lower-priority loads such as pool pumps and service lighting are quietly stepped down, automatically, so that comfort is never compromised. The same platform manages blinds, lighting, air conditioning and automated hurricane shutters, all operable remotely. The air conditioning return is built into a custom skirting detail, keeping grilles invisible and ensuring the technology never intrudes on the handcrafted quality of the rooms.
Informed by the water
Winch Design's background in high-performance yacht interiors runs throughout the build. Yacht-spec blinds track the sun automatically. Poolside furniture sits on marine-grade stainless steel feet. A hatch in the deck raises an entire section of decking, lowering furniture into protected storage below before a storm arrives - the same principle used aboard a superyacht to stow a helicopter. A floating timber deck allows rainwater to pass straight through to the ground, supporting the villa's water strategy while reading as a deliberate material choice.
Nothing here is over-specified for its own sake. Every decision connects the engineering brief to the design language, resolving them together rather than letting one simply serve the other.
A house that tells its own story
"When they take their friends there, they can tell the story," says Paul, Architecture Director. "It gives them the power to tell their own story, because they were involved every step of the way."
Spanning 700 square metres across interior and exterior spaces, Villa Nougat includes a 25-metre infinity pool, jacuzzi, wellness suite, sauna and gym. It is also available to rent via private arrangement.
