These tropical Open Doors are homes taken from AD’s Open Door archive, chosen through their connection to light, nature and a slower rhythm of living. Open terraces, natural materials and soft transitions between indoors and outdoors are perfect partners for wellbeing. As the new year unfolds, many are finding themselves navigating a moment that feels both uncertain and emotionally complex. In times like these, the spaces we inhabit take on a different significance, offering not just comfort, but a sense of grounding and consistency. There is a growing appreciation for environments that bring calm, light and a feeling of openness. Design, becoming less about aspiration and more about creating moments of ease, even in small, everyday ways.
Diplo’s Jamaican jungle paradise
Imagine jamming out to some Bob Marley as you soak in an infinity pool overlooking the Jamaican jungle. Well, if you’re Grammy winner Thomas Wesley Pentz, better known as DJ Diplo, you don’t have to. A former neighbour who was leaving Jamaica gave him her entire collection of the best unplayed reggae and Afrobeat records he’s “ever found,” he says, so he’s got plenty of tunes to choose from, all stored in the custom-made library of his private Caribbean estate, which is named Pompey, a misspelling of the ruined Italian city, Pompeii. Diplo worked alongside Brooklyn-based firm Freecell Architecture to create his dream open-air poured concrete Brutalist villa across 50 acres of land next to the Caribbean Sea. “If you look on a clear day,” he says, “you can see Cuba.” Between the at-home spa, music studio and lounge (complete with ping-pong table), there are plenty of places to hang out on the secluded property. “It’s beautiful, peaceful, but also electric and crazy all the time,” Diplo says of the vibes. The indoor-outdoor living room, which features floor-to-ceiling windows and a piano for live entertainment, is another ideal spot to host guests—and when it gets too hot, Diplo says, he and his friends and family just backflip off the balcony and into the pool. But please don’t try this at home!