Our Story

Owners David and Jane Waugh have taken the dream of their friend Jo Hollman, made it their own and taken it to a new level. Jo fell in love with Caye Caulker while vacationing here in the early 90’s. Consulting the local “mayor” she discovered that this property was for sale and negotiated its purchase before the trip was over. The original house with its screen-less wood slat windows, hand pump water supply and no bath was blown away by a hurricane in 2001. All that was left was the concrete shed around which that earlier house had been built. 

While trying to decide whether to rebuild Jo, from Mississippi, met David in New York City where he was a pastor. She along with her husband, convinced David to visit Caye Caulker with the prospect of entering into a partnership with them in which he would use his carpentry skills, along with those of his sons, to rebuild. After he made several trips to visit the island he decided that he really wanted to build a second home for their families to enjoy rather than replace the simple former structure. 

While they were getting together on this project, Jo introduced took it upon herself to play “match maker” and introduced David to her longtime friend, Jane, who had visited the island on several occasions before the hurricane blew away the first house. This was Jo’s second project for David as David and Jane became engaged and later married on the island. 

With large families, making a home for everyone meant a large house! So David worked hard alongside his two sons and together they pretty much built everything! Built on posts to make the most of the island breezes, it is designed for easy living in airy living spaces with three private bedrooms, a spacious loft and two beautiful bathrooms. The two existing decks to the front and rear make enjoying the sun and breezes a joy. The initial phase was completed in 2007-2008. At that time few houses on the island had Air Conditioning and only one rental home had a pool. When David was installing ceiling fans in the bedrooms he was considered a bit extravagant by island standards of the time. Yet even today those ceiling fans provide adequate cooling while leaving a smaller imprint on the islands meager power supply. In the early years the water supply came from a well or from rain water stored in a large vat buried beneath the house. However, in recent years the Belizean government has made potable deep well water available in most locations and it is that source that our guests now use.

The house remains a work in progress. The exterior and interior paint has gone through several color transitions. The most recent being in the Fall of 2017 as we brightened it up with fresh island colors. New window treatments were handcrafted by Jane and a friend while David did the painting. Yet to be completed are a spacious deck to the front of the house and some form of fresh water “pool” (although “swimming pool” would be gross over-statement but not unlike a non-heated hot tub) in which to sit and sip at the end of the day.

As Jo and her husband grew older because of health concerns they became unable to enjoy the benefits of their partnership in Villa Almendra. In 2015 the Waugh’s purchased the Holmans’ share and became sole owners. Since then they have begun transitioning to make Villa Almendra (Almond Tree House) their full-time home following retirement and have re-named it as The Bottle Tree House honoring an old tradition in the deep south of USA. In the meantime, they offer their home to you as “your island home” while you enjoy this slice of paradise known as Caye Caulker.