Best places to live ... Upper St Andrew
Published: Sunday | March 8, 2009
File photos
(1) This house in Jacks Hill with four bedrooms and four bathrooms that was for sale late last year was for US$1.3 Million.
(2) This four-bedroom, four-bathroom pool house of approximately 5000-square-ft in Cherry Gardens is valued at US$1.2 million.
(3) The Cherry Gardens greathouse was built in the mid-17th century and is believed to have been the birthplace in 1818 of National Hero George William Gordon.
There are areas in Jamaica where a home isn't simply a house, but a piece of paradise. We mean desired places where birds of a privileged feather flock together and your neighbours are the movers and shakers of the country. Over the next several months, we will take you on a Sunday tour of the best places to live in Jamaica. We start with some of St Andrew's most-desired addresses.
If you have former prime minister Edward Seaga, or legendary musicians like Beres Hammond, Shaggy and Jimmy Cliff or the members of the Issa family, as a neighbour, then you know that you are living in one of the most desirable communities in Jamaica.
Norbrook, Jacks Hill, Cherry Gardens, Stony Hill, Millsborough, Manor Park, Waterworks are among some of the preferred addresses of the who's who.
Top of the list
According to realtor, Barbara Clarke, from Coldwell Bankers, top on her list of requests are Jacks Hill, Norbrook, and Cherry Gardens. The median house prices can range from US$500,000 to US$1.8 million (J$42.5 million). These can be townhouses to bungalows in gated communities. Clarke notes that gated communities provide the type of security that people are now looking for.
Other desirable factors include their distance from the hub of the city and the quiet relaxation that people who work in the city need. Amenities include swimming pools or tennis courts and their proximity to some of the popular plazas, supermarkets, Andrews Memorial Hospital or the University Hospital's Tony Thwaites Wing, make them ideal.
Keep reading Outlook as twice monthly, we take you to some of the best places to live in Jamaica.
How The Other Half Lives returns next week.
Take your pick
Prices and architectural styles are as sweet as the fruit for which it is named. This upper St Andrew residential community was also the home of national hero George William Gordon. The building still stands, preserved on land that was once a sugar estate.
Think breathtaking views!
Check the price tag for these homes in the weekly classifieds of The Sunday Gleaner. Its proximity to the American International School of Kingston on Oliver Road makes it ideal for children of diplomats and the well-heeled.
Two of the most-sought-after neighbourhoods close to Stony Hill and Norbrook Drive?
This community lies next door to Jacks Hill and in proximity to Paddington Terrace in Barbican. It boasts gated townhouse complexes and offers some scenic city views.
Home to businessman Kenny Benjamin and the official residence of the United States ambassador, Stony Hill is an established community that boasts Villa Ronai, home of the Caribbean's number-one model agency, Pulse.
The lots in this area, a stone's throw from upscale Sovereign Centre, are very large. That's the charm.
Think Seymour Avenue, Vale Royal, the area along and within the vicinity of Lady Musgrave Road, Hilcrest Avenue, Trafalgar Park and locations on the periphery of New Kingston's business district and this is one pie you'd love a slice of. Centrally located, lucky property owners in this triangle know they literally have gold on their hands!
Home to a lot of old and new money! The view is priceless.
Prime real-estate properties that give that country feel just minutes away from the city.