The Cerulean

The Cerulean is a five-bedroom villa on the oceanfront at the eastern end of St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, reached by a gated private driveway. It is a pale yellow house on two floors, with an arched veranda running along the sea side, a pool deck above the water, and a guest cottage a few steps away. It sleeps twelve, it faces the sunrise, and it is the house we would send a group to first on this island.

The space

The main house holds four bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, and three of them look straight out at the sea. The living room sits under a vaulted ceiling of white beams and dark wood, with a long blue sectional and French doors onto the veranda. The kitchen beside it is large, white and blue, with a long island and a window over the water; a February guest called it "the best stocked kitchen we've ever had in a rented house." One bathroom has a freestanding clawfoot tub.

The guest cottage is "just 20 steps away from the main home," as a guest who stayed two months put it, and works as a small house of its own: a kitchen, a living room, one bedroom, and a spiral stair up to a loft with the sixth bed. It comes with the villa and is not rented separately, so the whole property is yours.

Outside, the veranda arches frame the bay. Below them the pool deck holds a free-form pool, a row of loungers, a pergola over an outdoor kitchen and grill, a covered lounge set around a fire table, and a fire pit among the planters. It is the part of the house guests write about most. "High point is the pool deck area," one wrote; another said the beachfront area "was perfect to sit and listen to the waves."

The setting

The East End is the dry, quiet end of St. Croix: low hills, scrub and cactus, and a coast of headlands and small bays. The nearest landmarks are Point Udall, the easternmost point of the United States, and Jack and Isaac Bays, two undeveloped beaches inside a Nature Conservancy preserve that you reach on foot. An April guest put the drive to the trailhead at five minutes, and Christiansted, the old Danish harbour town with Fort Christiansvaern, the boardwalk and most of the island's restaurants, at under twenty. The Reef golf course at Teague Bay is close by.

In front of the house the water is shallow and sheltered by reef. The same guest described "amazing snorkeling right in front of the house in the shallow water protected by the reef," and added the practical note: "Rocky entrance but water shoes do the trick."

Who it suits

The Cerulean is laid out for more than one family travelling together: four en-suite rooms in the main house for couples and parents, and the cottage for grandparents, teenagers or anyone who wants their own door. Guests have also used it as one family with a great deal of room, and one guest stayed two months while on the island for a work project. It suits people who plan to spend their days at the house, by the pool and on the deck. It is less suited to anyone who wants to walk out to dinner; this is a drive-everywhere corner of the island, the listing recommends a car, and St. Croix drives on the left.