The 11-acre property has six homes, each with a private plunge pool
When your family’s Caribbean estate has seven pools, cocktail hour becomes a little more complicated.
William and Marilyn Crawford’s home in the British Virgin Islands is composed of multiple cottages, each with its own pool. In December 2023, while visiting the partially completed estate, the family invented a game they call “progressive pooling.” The event, now a family favorite, requires the residents of each cottage to provide drinks and appetizers for dripping relatives dashing from one pool to another, said the Crawfords’ daughter Jenny Niemann. Refreshments range from popcorn and wings to rum cocktails, she said.
Now completed, the 11-acre estate on the island of Virgin Gorda is going on the market for $32.5 million, said listing agent Roz Colthart of Corcoran BVI.
The roughly 9,500-square-foot estate has six cottages, each with a private plunge pool, outdoor shower, en suite bathroom, sitting area and kitchenette, said Colthart. A seventh building has shared spaces including a great room, dining room, two kitchens and two offices. There are also outdoor living and dining areas as well as a fire pit and an infinity pool.
William Crawford was a furniture executive whose grandfather co-founded the Michigan-based furniture company Steelcase, which went public in 1998. He and his wife vacationed in the Caribbean for decades before purchasing 11 acres with ocean views in the Oil Nut Bay resort community around 2012, said Niemann. Marilyn designed the home as a comfortable gathering place for their two children and four grandchildren, Niemann said, with the distinct living spaces intended to let each family unit have their own private space.
“Mom recognized there’s a mix—a time for quiet time and time to come together,” said Niemann.
The family has vacationed at the property several times over the past few years, Neimann said, but Marilyn’s meticulous planning, along with her declining health and pandemic-related delays, extended the construction period. Marilyn, who has Alzheimer’s disease, is now receiving full-time care in Michigan. She was unable to oversee the project’s completion, so Niemann completed and furnished it earlier this year, she said. The estate is being sold furnished, including some Steelcase pieces, according to Niemann.
Each cottage has vaulted wood ceilings, and two of the cottages are nestled into the hill so snugly their roofs are actually covered in grass and native plants, said Niemann. Marilyn designed the primary cottage with no steps to the shared living space, hoping that would extend the number of years they’d be able to use the property, said Niemann.
Niemann added the offices, she said, explaining that having an area for video calls became important in the decade between the home’s original design and its completion. Niemann also finished the kitchen design and cabinetry and selected some of the tile and furnishings.
Niemann declined to disclose the cost of construction and the price of the land. “My dad regularly said things like, ‘Marilyn had an unlimited budget for landscaping and she still went over budget,’” Niemann said.
Niemann is chief executive of Forward Space, a distributor of Steelcase and other commercial furniture products. She said she plans to buy a smaller home on the island, but with only two children, she doesn’t have a large enough family to fill her parents’ estate.
A home on Virgin Gorda is in contract to sell for around $16 million, a price that would break the island’s $12.6 million record, said real-estate agent Anthony Campbell of Smiths Gore Christie’s International Real Estate. On average, luxury homes on Virgin Gorda sold for about $3 million in 2022 and 2023, up from about $1.7 million in 2021, said Campbell. The most expensive home in the British Virgin Islands sold for $53.4 million in 2014, he said.
