Tom Hamilton

The guesthouse and main house feature soaring double- and triple-height ceilings with exposed timber framing and corrugated metal roofing, creating impressive vertical volume that dominates the interior spaces despite the rustic materiality.

Every surface is antique longleaf southern yellow pine, native capa prieto wood, and ironwood — walls, floors, ceilings, and furniture are all warm timber, with linen hammocks, striped cotton upholstery, and no cold materials anywhere.

Dense layering of Toni Hambleton's ceramic sculptures, driftwood benches, folk art, carved figures, woven textiles, and tropical plants all in coherent dialogue — the bedroom alone layers art, framed photos, carved totems, and embroidered textiles with internal consistency.

The house doesn't commit to a historical period but draws loosely on vernacular Puerto Rican stilt construction and pre-Columbian sculptural references, mixed freely with contemporary building methods and Mexican folk elements.

Everything reads as genuinely accumulated — Hambleton's own ceramic work, antique Mexican doors at the entrance, driftwood collected on site, old ironwood beams with 'nails and holes and what have you,' and the couple built the house themselves over decades starting in the 1970s.

The article describes a separate guesthouse built by architect Jaime Suarez and entertaining ('because we entertain a lot'), but the overall feel is a deeply personal retreat — hammocks, private studios, and the quote 'this place makes you lazy' suggest it serves the residents first.

A hammock stretches across the main living space, the kitchen doubles as living area with a Mexican butcher block breakfast table, and the entire ethos is barefoot tropical informality — 'you can lie in the hammock, do nothing, and feel good about it.'

The Hambletons built and furnished everything themselves with no architect for the main house — 'we didn't have an architect as such' — and every object from the totem sculptures to the driftwood bench reflects personal artistic practice rather than editorial styling.

Nothing here performs for an outside audience; the sculptures are Toni's own work displayed on her own terrace, the house was built incrementally by the couple's own hands, and the wealth expressed is in craft and time invested rather than brand recognition or conspicuous display.