You could say the sea has become part of Mark Ingraham’s DNA. Though he’s a lawyer like his father, the Miami Beach native has been sailing and surfing most of his life, and he’s more likely to tell you about the bronze boat cleats and pulleys he discovered at a nautical antiques shop than about his latest case.

Those old pieces of hardware have been given new life at Mark’s off-the-grid cabin on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera, a 110-mile-long sliver of land known for its pink-sand beaches and laid-back vibe. Part surf shack, part family getaway, it’s where Mark, his wife, Kate, and their 13-year-old daughter, Lucy, go to soak up the island’s unspoiled landscape.

The structure is Mark’s second foray into building on the island. The first was a solar-powered Bahamian-style cottage that he developed with his father and brothers with help from his sailing buddy, Miami architect Jacob Brillhart. But Mark longed to create a smaller, more streamlined outpost on the property that they could enjoy when the cottage is rented out. Brillhart was all in.

“The natural wonders of the island are astonishing,” says the architect. “We were looking for natural materials in extremely simple forms so that the building would almost go away. I even toyed with the idea of putting it underground, but the budget wouldn’t allow for that.”

“One of the larger ideas was that the house would have a natural sensibility. The landscape and the materiality were primary.” -Jacob Brillhart, architect

The 715-square-foot retreat comprises two volumes joined by a breezeway, with a large window facing the ocean. Reminiscent of Jack Hall’s Hatch House on Cape Cod and Paul Rudolph’s tropical modern homes in Florida, the cabin features operable flaps that provide privacy as well as protection from the winds that regularly lash the area. Electricity needs are met by 30 solar panels near the cottage. Other than purchased drinking water, the property’s water is supplied by five large cisterns that together can hold about 6,000 gallons of rainwater.

Cecil McCardy, a third-generation Bahamian builder who’d deployed his considerable skills on the cottage, was instrumental in everything from anchoring the cabin to the limestone beneath it to finishing the interior in cypress. He also put the vintage cleats and pulleys to use to operate the hurricane flaps.

Sourcing materials and furnishings increased the project’s cost to $165,000 from an original budget of $125,000. “There are no big-box stores on Eleuthera,” says Mark. “There’s barely even a hardware store. Pretty much everything that’s inthe house was shipped from the States or from Nassau.” Nonetheless, the job was completed in two months.

“There’s a T-shirt that says ‘Eleuthera is not for everyone,’” Mark adds. “It’s not a place for people who like cruise ships or casinos or high-rises. But we love it—it’s like going back in time.”

Project Credits:

Architect: Brillhart Architecture

General Contractor: Cecil McCardy

Appears In

A Surfer’s Retreat in the Bahamas