Jade Mountain, located on the Caribbean island nation of St Lucia, has become among the most-viewed aquatic environments ever created. Jade Mountain is essentially a resort within a resort, part of a 600-acre highly luxurious destination known as Anse Chastanet, the brainchild of Canadian owner and architect Nick Troubetzkoy. The property, which was established in the mid-70s features numerous French Colonial suites scattered throughout the lush forest and along the shore.
In the early 2000s, Troubetskoy began planning a new phase for the property located on a steep hillside that would eventually become Jade Mountain. The structure features 24 rooms, which Troubetskoy calls “sanctuaries,” each with its own unique layout and each with a unique vanishing edge pool. Each pool, along with the sanctuaries’ unusual open-air bathrooms, are finished with one-of-kind glass tile made specifically for the project by David Knox of Lightstreams Glass tile. Other pool industry icons including Skip Phillips and Brian Van Bower participated in the design process.
Although open to the air and views of St. Lucia’s iconic Pitons, the spaces are completely private, providing guests with their own unique slice of paradise. It’s no coincidence the Pitons themselves, which are covered in rainforest, appear very much as two mountains made of jade rising in the distance across the water.
The structure itself emerges from the lush greenery and very much intentionally looks like a modern Hanging Gardens of Babylon. At night each room glows with different colored lights courtesy of the luminance of the glass tile.
Jade Mountain has become one of the most photographed and celebrated examples of how water is used to define many of the world’s most romantic and luxurious of destinations.
