El Coyol My private paradise - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Interiors El Coyol My private paradise By You Magazine - June 20, 2021 Snapping up her own island in Nicaragua for the price of a two-bedroom home in the UK, Nicky Ray followed her dream to create the ultimate modern hideaway The 1.5-acre island’s lush vegetation includes numerous mango trees. On the terrace, the sofa and chairs were crafted by local carpenters; the planters were handmade and the sun loungers were imported from Costco in Miami. Photograph: Paul Massey Have you ever gone to a place and felt immediately at home? For Cornish-born Nicky Ray, the connection to El Coyol – one of 365 small islands set on freshwater Lake Nicaragua in Central America – was instantaneous. ‘I came to Nicaragua in 2013 with my husband Peter, and we toured the archipelago. I wanted my 50s to embrace new adventures – as soon as I stepped on to the island, I knew I wanted to make a home here. With an overwhelming sense of calm, serenity and beauty, it felt like nowhere else I had ever been,’ says Nicky. The beautiful decking area was designed by Nicky. El Coyol is also available to rent as a yoga retreat. Photograph: Paul Massey Fortuitously, the island was up for sale, so the idea turned into an opportunity, with the off-radar location making land, labour and resources all affordable. In the living space, the wall hangings are floor runners from rockettstgeorge.com. The coffee table was made from a fallen tree that was cut into 12 movable sections. The locally-made wicker lamps were bought from a roadside stall. The cushions were adapted from H&M covers. Photograph: Paul Massey There was already a house on the site, ‘which made the possibility of creating our dream space cost-effective: no expensive groundworks and the chance to minimise structural costs,’ Nicky explains. She worked with a local architect and construction team to increase the workable space of the existing house by raising the roof height, knocking down internal walls and adding impactful glazed windows and doors. A kitchen-diner and two more bedrooms were added. Dark rooms were turned into lofty, light spaces that connect to new landscaped terraces and the pool with stunning views out to the lake beyond. The ‘rancho’, which overlooks the pool, was carved using local frijolillo wood. The table is a repurposed door attached to a welded steel base. Photograph: Paul Massey The hacienda-style villa sleeps eight: think secluded Robinson Crusoe hideaway meets intimate boutique home – mangoes on tap, private cook if required. Nothing is formulaic, everything is personal and handcrafted. ‘We wanted to minimise our carbon footprint so made inventive use of wood offcuts and naturally felled trees to create furniture to my designs. Tourism is welcomed, and it has been great to support local artisans and for guests to now rent our island too. In the kitchen-diner, floating concrete shelves display replicas of pre-Colombian statues. The console table teams guanacaste timber with steel legs. The chairs, made on the mainland, slide away under the concrete island. Photograph: Paul Massey ‘We are living a life less ordinary; by day nestled among verdant flora and fauna; at night cocooned in a star-studded oasis. Life is too short to not have a go at living your dream.’ The monochrome bathroom adds a contemporary edge. The vanity unit is made from frijolillo timber and a local black granite top. A wood offcut adds a rustic touch to a circular mirror. The sink is by sinsa.com.ni and the stool is crafted from cedro timber. Photograph: Paul Massey For more information, go to theislandnicaragua.com and @elcoyolprivateisland. From £575 per night for up to eight people; from 7 January 2022 you can book El Coyol for five nights or more and receive one night free Words: Ali Heath RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Hotel review Wyndham Residences Costa Adeje National Trust is giving away free tickets this autumn Aldi s pumpkin-shaped casserole dish is all we want for Halloween DON' T MISS Fiona Bruce Sometimes I struggle not to cry November 14, 2021 17 beautiful 2021 diaries to help you to look forward to December 4, 2020 Why women leave men for women What’ s fuelling the rise of April 28, 2019 Hollywood veteran Laura Linney on plastic surgery friendship and her stellar July 3, 2017 You can shop the khaki jumpsuit from Holly Willoughby’ s new M& S July 17, 2019 The secrets and lies behind this happy family photo April 11, 2021 It’ s cocktail hour Olly Smith’ s cocktail recipes and Eleanor Maidment s canapé November 14, 2021 BBC One has revealed its Christmas TV schedule and there’ s lots December 2, 2020 YOU Beauty Box August Reviews August 1, 2017 Rome has been named the cheapest major city to visit in August 7, 2019 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. 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