The Ultimate Island Escape.

Take a tour of Emerald Cay: the Turks and Caicos beachfront home that is causing reverberations across the region.

You know you have hit the jackpot long before even arriving at Emerald Cay. Everyone tells you the same thing: Emerald Cay is no ordinary property. “There’s nothing like this home,” says designer, Ron Shaw, who spent three years on-site perfecting the estate. “The residence is not your typical home or dwelling,” concurs Peter Kerrigan – Emerald Cay’s structural engineer – while project manager, Frank McGurk, comments: “Emerald Cay is a unique design with no comparisons in the Turks and Caicos Islands to this day.”

They are not wrong. For one thing, the residence took a staggering seven years to design and construct. The 30,000 square foot majestic Mediterranean villa is situated on its own private island and can only be accessed by an imposing remote controlled 40 foot bridge – which not only gives the mansion an undeniably monumental presence, but also makes for a remote getaway that might leave you wondering if you have wandered onto a movie set. Certainly, the palatial property sets standards few others  can match with its computer-controlled audio/video, lighting and motorised systems: everything from the waterfalls and fountains to the      air conditioning can be managed  from any location. Not surprisingly, security and surveillance are second  to none; every inch of the high tech home can be monitored from anywhere in the world owing to Emerald Cay’s eight security cameras that come equipped with human recognition technology.

The house – if you can call it that – oozes indulgence, boasting ten bedrooms, two boat slips, a 60,000-gallon pool and a swimming grotto that is part of the ocean, a full service gymnasium, tennis and volleyball courts and two guesthouses. Every conceivable comfort and luxury has been thought out; the edifice is also equipped with a bespoke 8,000-bottle Mahogany wine cellar, a ten-person state-of-the-art home theatre (which won the custom installer, Playback Audio & Video Creations, Creston’s Home Sweet Home Theatre Award) and, for added stimulation, a three-storey library that is made from solid Brazilian Mahogany and contains wall-panelling cut from hand-selected logs, resulting in a unique and complex grain pattern.

Yet, arguably the most eye-catching space in the home is the great room which, with its water feature and hand-painted murals, has added aesthetic appeal. Originally, Ron Shaw  had designed the exterior pool to the edge of the room and then thought, “Why not bring it under the room with glass panels in the floor looking down at the water?” While the great room is undoubtedly distinctive, each of the rooms has its own particular tone – rather as if the team responsible were designing different scenes from a play or opera.

All told, Emerald Cay is a celebration of the sort of space and flamboyance that represents both a remarkable property and a savvy investment.­