Indigo House & Myett’s: BVI Art & Food in Cane Garden Bay
Myett’s, a BVI hotel and restaurant situated in a garden setting, and Indigo House, a beach bar with an artistic vibe, are two Cane Garden Bay hubs for food and entertainment. Owned by husband and wife team, Kareem and Valerie Rhymer, and Kareem’s brother Leon (locally known as Sandman), the properties reflect a family love affair with the BVI in general and Cane Garden Bay in particular.
Indigo House Has an Artistic History
Opened in 2020, Indigo House is located midway along Cane Garden Bay’s beach. Once Kareem and Valerie’s home, the couple has strived to retain the building’s homelike feeling and its artistic history.
It is a house that I also know well. Perched on the beach’s edge, the Indigo House was originally built by James Havard, a New York artist. Arriving in the BVI in 1976, he rented a house on the western end of Cane Garden Bay and instantly fell in love with the bay’s lifestyle and people.
Recognized in the 1970s and ‘80s for the pioneering art style known as “abstract illusionism,” he purchased a compact 1,600 square foot piece of beachfront midway down the beach to build an art studio and second home. He commissioned my husband, BVI architect Alan Smith, to design a Caribbean style house that would fit comfortably into its setting of sand and sea.
The two-story house had a masonry ground floor the color of sand and a wooden second story painted an earthy brown. Its azure-colored shutters echoed the sea outside. When visiting we spent most of our time on the narrow, uncovered balcony. Young children from the house next door came over to play with our kids.
There was a small kitchen off the living room and a compact studio on the roadside; the wooden second floor contained a single bedroom looking out over the bay. A tall hip roof gave the room an airy and spacious feel. Small, yes, but containing everything the artist needed to paint and to enjoy beach parties with his friends and Cane Garden Bay neighbors.
The house felt like an integral part of the community. Visitors walking along the beach would inevitably ask if the house was a restaurant. “No,” we would say, little knowing that Kareem and Valerie would transform the house into a popular beach bar and eatery a few decades later.
James eventually sold the house to a California couple and Valerie and Kareem purchased the home from them in 2005. At first, they lived there themselves and later turned it into a holiday rental villa.
In 2017, Hurricane Irma severely damaged the house and left Valerie and Kareem, devastated. The couple persevered, determined to repair the building and bring it back as close to its original form as possible . . .but stronger.
They added covered balconies on both the ground and second floors, with dining tables lining the lower one. They built the kitchen in what had been James’ studio and added a bar in what had been the living room. And voila! What had been a cozy beachfront rental villa became the perfect sand in your toes beach bar and restaurant.
Vishaal Mohabir, Indigo House’s consummate barman is now a partner in Indigo House. He has a loyal following of patrons who enjoy the bar’s cool and casual setting. He seems to know what you want to drink even before you order it.
For me the home-like feeling continues to this day. The sofas in the courtyard remind me of the many good times we had when James Havard lived there. James passed away a few years ago, but one of his paintings hangs on the wall and a coffee table of his works is on display, making his presence felt to this day.
Valerie told me that they are currently fitting the upstairs at Indigo to be a large one bedroom short term rental that can be converted to do private events when available.
Myett’s in the Heart of Cane Garden Bay
When I asked her why she and Kareem opened a second location at Indigo House, she explained that the two businesses are complementary. Indigo House offers a comfortable Caribbean feel while Myett’s is like a small beach resort offering greater amenities.
When Cane Garden Bay natives, Kareem and his brother Leon “Sandman” Rymer returned to the BVI from stints abroad in the early 1990s, their goal was to build a restaurant on a piece of family land that would reflect nature and its surroundings. The result was a treehouse-like structure sitting in a tropical garden.
Valerie, an American with a background in marketing and the yachting industry met Kareem at Quito’s, a bar and restaurant at the eastern end of Cane Garden Bay. Kareem showed her the property, a tangle of tropical trees and bushes, and told her of his vision to open a restaurant there. Myett’s opened in 1992, and the couple married in 1997.
Over the years, the property has grown organically, and today, offers a spacious dining room, its tables fitted out with tablecloths and flowers. A stage at one end features nightly entertainment which can range from reggae to rhythm and blues. An eight-sided bar with stunning bay views, and another bar a stone’s throw from the water, cater to those looking for drinks without leaving the beach.
The boutique hotel, Myett’s Garden Inn, is on the second floor and offers six beach or garden views. There is a coffee shop (Cane Brew Coffee House) at the entrance and an apparel and gift shop (Olivia’s).
Myett’s continues to be a family affair. Sandman remains as a partner and Valerie and Kareem’s two children now in their 20s have joined the team with Lili running the coffee shop, and their son KJ helping with maintenance.
Now 31 years later Valerie and Kareem remain an integral part of Cane Garden Bay and the British Virgin Islands. It is a special place, says Valerie, “where I can stick my toes in that sand and watch the sunset every night.”
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