Shoes off and candlelight. That’s London-based hotelier Kit Kemp’s secret to savoring downtime with friends and family at Rossferry, the Barbadian retreat she and her husband, Tim, bought 15 years ago and escape to every chance they get. The entrance’s avenue of palms was the couple’s first hint they’d found a magical spot on the island’s west coast, but the home’s hacienda-style openness and two and a half acres of mahoganies, palms, and bougainvillea stretching down to the sea sealed the deal. “We loved that the central pavilion was open on three sides, offering a constant through breeze,” says Kemp. “It’s nice to invite guests to take off their shoes so they feel the texture underfoot and just relax. And we light candles everywhere—instant magic.”
As founder and creative director of Firmdale Hotels and Kit Kemp Design Studio, Kemp knows something about creating enchanting atmospheres. The buoyant Crayola colors and decidedly unbashful textiles that are hallmarks of her hotels in London and New York feel right at home in this tropical getaway, perhaps even more so. “I can indulge in vivid, bright colors here—that strong Barbados sunshine just eats color,” says Kemp, who painted pavilion ceilings in jolts of hot pink and electric turquoise. Indeed the five-bedroom home has become Kemp’s design playground, starting with a complete rebuild. The original 1950s-era house was designed by midcentury architectural giant Robertson “Happy” Ward, whose firm designed the iconic Sandy Lane Hotel. The intent was to update plumbing and “all the things we were always having to apologize to guests for” but stay true to the footprint and feel of “the old Rossferry.” They replicated the old coral stone walls while adding guest-friendly amenities, like private verandas for all the bedrooms, hotel-worthy soaking tubs, and outdoor showers for some rooms—“an absolute delight,” says Kemp, who found 18th-century Indian doors to add to the pathways connecting the living and dining pavilions. “They give this sense that the house has always been here.”
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The indoor/outdoor fluidity infuses a sense of exoticness and ease. “It’s really an open house,” says Kemp, summing up both the architecture and her approach to hospitality. “Everyone here on the west coast tends to have lots of guests. When you invite friends for supper, they bring the friends staying with them, too, so I’ve learned to always make allowances for more than you expect,” says the designer, who serves buffet style for that reason. “Guests feel freer to mingle; entertaining becomes more open, more informal.”
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However, she does keep formal mealtimes for houseguests. “This gives a hint of structure, apart from which guests are completely free to do whatever they want—swim, roam the property, enjoy the beach, go to the vegetable and fruit market,” she says. While the hours are set, Kemp likes mixing up the dining locations, “to add a bit of a surprise, of adventure.” For instance, the poolside gazebo is perfect for a rosé-fueled lunch, with a table brightly cloaked in a turquoise bedspread from the Kit Kemp Collection for Annie Selke— “that quilted texture is so lovely on the table”—while chandeliers hang under trees on the grounds, setting a romantic stage for impromptu alfresco suppers.
“In all honesty I’m probably about the worst hostess because I so enjoy being a guest,” admits Kemp. Thus her top entertaining tip: “Sit back, pretend you’re a guest, and enjoy,” she advises. “The wonderful thing about Rossferry is that no matter how old you are when you’re here, sitting around the table with dear friends in the sunshine, people are the same age as when you first met them. I’ve got friends I’ve grown old with, but here we’re still young and happy.”
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Featured in our November/December 2022 issue. Interior Design by Kit Kemp; Landscape Design by Kevin Talma; Photography by Annie Schlechter; Produced by Dayle Wood; Written by Stephanie Hunt.
