Anytime you build you must get permits.  We have anxiously been awaiting our "official" approval from Town Council.  This was a big deal!  Thank you Town Council. 

After the initial sketches, the architect was hard at work creating the blueprints of Sand Nickels. It was a long process, about six months or so, and with that came permits and permissions. Our designs had to be reviewed, approved and stamped with several government entities. While waiting for our official approval to build, our builder was able to get to work on the initial steps of preparing the site for building. Our driveway would have to be cut from the road to the building site and the site would need to be cleared. Unfortunately, that meant the removal of some trees. We wanted to keep as many palm trees and tropical foliage as possible, but it had to be a clear site to began the construction process.

Starting to build a house can be a daunting task.  Building a house in another country is leap of faith!  Trust and communication are key.  The first step is hiring an architect to design our place.  We knew what we wanted but needed to be able to communicate those ideas to a professional to do the plans.  After a few months, we received our initial sketches of Sand Nickels.   

We, like so many others, love the Caribbean.  Many vacations and wonderful experiences throughout the West Indies several times and several islands, we asked ourselves, is this the place?  We knew eventually we wanted to own a small piece of paradise.  We looked at property, dreamed, talked, looked at more property.  But nothing was ever the right "fit".  Until beautiful Exuma. 

We first visited Exuma in 2014.  We rented a small house on Tar Bay and instantly fell in love.  The next trip back we starting looking a real estate.  We knew what we wanted, but couldn't exactly find it.  Crazy, but we decided to build.  With help, guidance, and referrals from our new island friends the dream started to become a reality.  Hence, Sand Nickels began.