About Us
"Wow! We have to go there!" Rob said to Betsy when planning their Christmas and New Year's vacation in 2010. "These beaches are amazing and I've never seen clearer water."
We came across The Exumas in the summer of 2010 when researching a plot of land Betsy's grandfather had purchased sight unseen back in the mid-50's. A time of "Come to the Bahamas" when developers were carving roads out of the forests in Great Exuma and pitching an exotic life to Americans. Grandpa Gray never set foot on the island and the deed to his plot collected dust for five decades. From time to time, the lure and excitement of a Bahamian Paradise came up, but never sought out. Then one day when Betsy was on maternity leave with our youngest, she contacted a realtor about where the plot was located.
Was the land on some incredible beach? A tiny island? Right down the street from the massive Atlantis? Who knew. Like most Americans, the only thing we knew of The Bahamas was Atlantis. We had been all over the Caribbean to The Grenadines, USVI, St. Lucia, up and down the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Mexico, and Maui, but somehow skipped over this magical archipelago of some 700 islands. Entering the land coordinates into Google Earth brought disappointment. Smack dab in the middle of nowhere on the island of what? Great Exuma? Where's that? The plot was surrounded by what looked like miles of overgrown scrub and bush. No utilities were available and it was at least a quarter mile to the ocean. One pic of a nearby road confirmed it. Hopes and dreams of someday completing that Bahamian Paradise were dashed.
Rob has posted many pictures of our travels on Google Earth, so he eagerly checked out pictures of Exuma's beaches, and he was hooked. If Grandpa Gray had seen a brochure with pictures like these, we can't blame him for dreaming. Rob researched rental villas and flights and pitched it to Betsy, 13 nights over Christmas and New Year's in a 2 bedroom villa in February Point.
The vacation was incredible. Met locals and learned about the island and history. Drank with travelers from the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and found that even during the "busy season", we were often the only ones on the beach. We did plenty of exploring on land and sea, but we never made it to Grandpa Gray's land. When the trip was over, we hated leaving, but it was back to real life.
The next few years we vacationed in Turks & Caicos, Atlantis, Sonoma, St. Kitts, St. Barths and Puerto Rico. Everywhere was amazing, but nothing compared to what we felt about Exuma. In 2013, we said enough with trying to out do Exuma, we're going back. As we were packing for the trip, Betsy said, "let's just meet with a realtor and get an idea of what it would take to make our dream a reality." New experiences, more exploring, plenty of beach drinking and friend making. The sunshine incredible. The water refreshing...and its clarity with jaw dropping hues of blues and greens. And did I mention the sand? Finest white sand imaginable and perfect for building castles with the kids or just lounging.
While on the trip, we met with John Toker and Peter Whitehead of The Good Life Bahamas and Sotheby's International Realty. They took us around to visit some of the projects they had going on, stopped in at the brand new Turquoise Cay that Peter had been involved in recreating (which opened that day and unfortunately is now private), and then headed down to Little Exuma to see a vacant beachfront lot. We visited the plot during a quickly passing rain storm. Even that couldn't take away from the awe inspiring view of the ocean, small cays, and the beach. Wow! We were paralyzed by the beauty. "Could we do this?", we said to each other with excitement.
After returning to their office and saying our good byes, the sky began clearing up. We raced back to our rental house, packed the kids in the car and immediately drove to Little Exuma to see the plot.
We were giddy about the dream of our very own beachfront vacation home as we talked on the return flight home a few days later. But were we going to be like millions of other couples getting lost in the excitement while on vacation only to let that dream slip away when the reality of home life came back?
Little Exuma was on our minds. It would take hard work and the guts to make this a reality! Rob's family had a beach house on a lake in northern New York and would spend a week or so there every summer with his cousins creating lasting memories. We could do that same thing...but with white sand and blue water...where the palm trees swayed and the warm breezes urged you to stay outside to be with family and friends.
We reached out to John and started the process. We were buying that plot on the magical Love Beach in Little Exuma. It wasn't going to be for the faint of heart, that's for sure. Months of phone calls and emails, document collection, signatures, and waiting, aaaaand waiting...then finally, it was ours. And that was just the land.
We returned in the fall of 2014 and met with Peter and John about building a villa befitting of the location. After a session brainstorming over dinner at the Fish Fry and subsequent conversations, we said, "Let's do it!" And thus, The Salt House was born!
We came across The Exumas in the summer of 2010 when researching a plot of land Betsy's grandfather had purchased sight unseen back in the mid-50's. A time of "Come to the Bahamas" when developers were carving roads out of the forests in Great Exuma and pitching an exotic life to Americans. Grandpa Gray never set foot on the island and the deed to his plot collected dust for five decades. From time to time, the lure and excitement of a Bahamian Paradise came up, but never sought out. Then one day when Betsy was on maternity leave with our youngest, she contacted a realtor about where the plot was located.
Was the land on some incredible beach? A tiny island? Right down the street from the massive Atlantis? Who knew. Like most Americans, the only thing we knew of The Bahamas was Atlantis. We had been all over the Caribbean to The Grenadines, USVI, St. Lucia, up and down the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Mexico, and Maui, but somehow skipped over this magical archipelago of some 700 islands. Entering the land coordinates into Google Earth brought disappointment. Smack dab in the middle of nowhere on the island of what? Great Exuma? Where's that? The plot was surrounded by what looked like miles of overgrown scrub and bush. No utilities were available and it was at least a quarter mile to the ocean. One pic of a nearby road confirmed it. Hopes and dreams of someday completing that Bahamian Paradise were dashed.
Rob has posted many pictures of our travels on Google Earth, so he eagerly checked out pictures of Exuma's beaches, and he was hooked. If Grandpa Gray had seen a brochure with pictures like these, we can't blame him for dreaming. Rob researched rental villas and flights and pitched it to Betsy, 13 nights over Christmas and New Year's in a 2 bedroom villa in February Point.
The vacation was incredible. Met locals and learned about the island and history. Drank with travelers from the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and found that even during the "busy season", we were often the only ones on the beach. We did plenty of exploring on land and sea, but we never made it to Grandpa Gray's land. When the trip was over, we hated leaving, but it was back to real life.
The next few years we vacationed in Turks & Caicos, Atlantis, Sonoma, St. Kitts, St. Barths and Puerto Rico. Everywhere was amazing, but nothing compared to what we felt about Exuma. In 2013, we said enough with trying to out do Exuma, we're going back. As we were packing for the trip, Betsy said, "let's just meet with a realtor and get an idea of what it would take to make our dream a reality." New experiences, more exploring, plenty of beach drinking and friend making. The sunshine incredible. The water refreshing...and its clarity with jaw dropping hues of blues and greens. And did I mention the sand? Finest white sand imaginable and perfect for building castles with the kids or just lounging.
While on the trip, we met with John Toker and Peter Whitehead of The Good Life Bahamas and Sotheby's International Realty. They took us around to visit some of the projects they had going on, stopped in at the brand new Turquoise Cay that Peter had been involved in recreating (which opened that day and unfortunately is now private), and then headed down to Little Exuma to see a vacant beachfront lot. We visited the plot during a quickly passing rain storm. Even that couldn't take away from the awe inspiring view of the ocean, small cays, and the beach. Wow! We were paralyzed by the beauty. "Could we do this?", we said to each other with excitement.
After returning to their office and saying our good byes, the sky began clearing up. We raced back to our rental house, packed the kids in the car and immediately drove to Little Exuma to see the plot.
We were giddy about the dream of our very own beachfront vacation home as we talked on the return flight home a few days later. But were we going to be like millions of other couples getting lost in the excitement while on vacation only to let that dream slip away when the reality of home life came back?
Little Exuma was on our minds. It would take hard work and the guts to make this a reality! Rob's family had a beach house on a lake in northern New York and would spend a week or so there every summer with his cousins creating lasting memories. We could do that same thing...but with white sand and blue water...where the palm trees swayed and the warm breezes urged you to stay outside to be with family and friends.
We reached out to John and started the process. We were buying that plot on the magical Love Beach in Little Exuma. It wasn't going to be for the faint of heart, that's for sure. Months of phone calls and emails, document collection, signatures, and waiting, aaaaand waiting...then finally, it was ours. And that was just the land.
We returned in the fall of 2014 and met with Peter and John about building a villa befitting of the location. After a session brainstorming over dinner at the Fish Fry and subsequent conversations, we said, "Let's do it!" And thus, The Salt House was born!