Harbour Island Idyll: A Visit With India Hicks & David Flint Wood
Written by Robert Leleux | Photographed by Patrick Cline | Produced and Art Directed by Michelle Adams
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David Flint Wood adapts classic English decor to a laid-back retreat in the Bahamas.
King’s Treat’s wide verandas offer views of the harbor and an escape from the Caribbean heat. Eschewing traditional outdoor furnishings and extending an interior color palette, Flint Wood transformed the spaces into outdoor “rooms” with a view, ideal for warm-weather entertaining.
The retreat’s name, “King’s Treat,” is a pun on its King Street address.
King’s Treat—one of several Harbour Island homes belonging to designer David Flint Wood and his partner, fashion model and designer India Hicks—is an easygoing homage to island style. Known for its pink sands and leisurely pace, the island is located in a relatively untraveled corner of the Caribbean, with a laid back atmosphere that seems a world away from the busy London life Flint Wood and Hicks led before moving to the island in the mid-1990s. Since then, they’ve specialized in finding fresh and original ways of adapting traditional English style to their homes in the Bahamas.
“King’s Treat was in terribly bad shape when I bought it four years ago,” says Flint Wood. “But I’d known it for 20 years and always loved it.” Despite its dilapidated condition, the house—with its harbor views, lush walled garden, palm-shaded verandas, and quaint guest cottage—still held glimpses of its former glory. Built for a sea captain by local boat builders in the 1890s, it was made to weather tumultuous Caribbean storms, with such sturdy materials as foot-wide floor planks. “I literally tore the place apart in order to completely restore it, installing new plumbing, electrical wiring, and air-conditioning,” says Flint Wood. “The work was done by locals, the great-grandsons of the men who built the house.” In context with King’s Treat’s island setting, Flint Wood kept furnishings simple while incorporating a series of decorative flourishes. “I wanted the furnishings to evoke a particular kind of nostalgic, tropical style, to feel as though they’ve been here for generations,” he says. “There’s a great, fun 1860s oil painting, for instance. But I also engaged in quite a lot of set design. The sofas are from Pottery Barn, covered in a chintz I found at Peter Jones’ shop in London. I think the last person to buy that fabric was probably someone’s grandmother from Sussex. But, in this house, it struck just the right note.” In fact, many of the house’s most pleasing elements have surprisingly mass-market origins. Flint Wood purchased the kitchen cabinetry from the IKEA in Palm Beach, Florida, while one of the bedrooms boasts two luxurious Italian campaign beds from Anthropologie.
Despite its laid-back atmosphere, the living room of King’s Treat boasts touches of 1930s splendor. The room’s black-painted floors, zebra-patterned rug, and exaggerated sense of scale supply style without sacrificing comfort.
Tropical greenery serves as a low-cost, sculptural substitute for flower arrangements, and vignettes create ideal opportunities for underscoring decorative motifs. Each of these groupings emphasizes King’s Treat’s unique personality and island setting.
The living room’s oversize furnishings exude an old-world atmosphere while providing ample seating for entertaining. Shutters function as quaint, island-inspired alternatives to fabric window treatments, and planks supply subtle texture to the white walls.
Given the gleaming sunshine and vibrant natural backdrop of Harbour Island, it was important to make King’s Treat’s interiors cool and soothing to the eye. “I’m a great believer in giving the eyes a rest from color and light,” says Flint Wood, who painted the rooms subtle shades of gray and white and coated much of the flooring in black industrial-grade paint. Altogether, the house possesses the kind of nonchalant charm that’s achieved by the carefully applied craft of a seasoned designer rather than through the purchase of pricey materials. “I never wanted the house to look decorated,” says Flint Wood of his meticulous efforts to tailor elegant English interiors to the carefree life of the tropics. “The place is a paradise. You don’t want to fiddle around too much with it.”
The desktop displays a photograph of one of India Hicks’ most renowned relatives, the much missed Queen Elizabeth II. Hicks’ mother, Lady Pamela Hicks, was a first cousin to Her Majesty’s husband, the late Prince Philip.
“I wanted the furnishings to evoke a particular kind of nostalgic, tropical style, to feel as though they’ve been here for generations,” says Flint Wood. “There’s a great, fun 1860s oil painting, for instance. But I also engaged in quite a lot of set design. The sofas are from Pottery Barn, covered in a chintz I found at Peter Jones’ shop in London. I think the last person to buy that fabric was probably someone’s grandmother from Sussex. But, in this house, it struck just the right note.”
King’s Treat boasts a distinguished literary past. Writer Zoë Heller, author of the Man Booker Prize–winning novel Notes on a Scandal, lived here while at work on her latest novel, The Believers.
“I never wanted the house to look decorated,” says Flint Wood. “The place is a paradise. You don’t want to fiddle around too much with it.”
Lamps offer an ideal opportunity for playing with scale and proportion. These oversized wickerwork designs create a dramatic focal point while serving a practical purpose.
“I’m a great believer in giving the eyes a rest from color and light,” says Flint Wood, who painted the rooms subtle shades of gray and white and coated much of the flooring in black industrial-grade paint.
Flint Wood purchased the daybed’s hand-printed fabric at a market in Cairo.
Pale gray walls provide this bedroom with a sense of serenity. Plain cotton linens keep the room feeling crisp and cool. Crystal lamps with black shades and a delicate wrought iron bed frame supply a sophisticated counterbalance to the room’s rustic charm.
Through the garden is King’s Treat’s guest cottage, tucked into the shade of island palms and the property’s two flame trees. “It’s the little house where we all dream of living,” says Flint Wood.
These Italian canopy beds, purchased from Anthropologie, manage to be both casual and luxurious; their simple metal frames fill the space without dominating it. A vintage console adds character. Flint Wood discovered the Brazilian folk art paintings in London.
Take A Peek Inside Hibiscus Hill
Flint Wood and Hicks’ private residence on Harbour Island.
Flint Wood and Hicks’ children frolic in the lush landscape of their home.
In Flint Wood and Hicks’ living room, the sofa, upholstered in a cheerful Caribbean-pink fabric, softens the strikingly simple color scheme. Bare floors, which the couple painted black, help keep the house cool despite the warm tropical climate. Artwork and table lamps are placed unusually high in order to draw the eye up, adding height to a room filled with low, elegant furnishings.
Throughout the dining room, family photographs are grouped on picture ledges, an excellent way to display images and artwork without cluttering tabletops.