WORLDS AWAY

In a waterfront Dominican Republic villa, tales of treasure hunts unfold in collections of global antiques and art.

- LANDSCAPE DESIGN BY KATHRYN HERMAN INTERIOR DESIGN BY ANDREW BROWN ARCHITECTURE BY ERNESTO BUCH PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNIE SCHLECHTER STYLING BY ROBERT RUFINO WRITTEN BY CELIA BARBOUR

If you build it, they will come—or so the cliché promises. But when the “it” is a 17,000-square-foot Caribbean villa with views of the ocean from each of its eight bedrooms, “they” is likely to be everyone you know, plus a few you've barely met.

Kathryn and Ron Herman's Dominican Republic home is so well laid out by legendary architect Ernesto Buch that even a horde of houseguests can't strain its sense of congeniality. “I never feel like I have to entertain,” says Kathryn, a noted Connecticut-based landscape designer and, like Buch, devoted classicist. “Just being here is the entertainment. We'll gather at night-cocktails at 7, dinner at 8.” Until then, everyone does as they please, from swimming in the pool or playing golf on an adjacent course, to beachcombing, reading, or napping.

Even just wandering the halls offers a wonderful diversion, because the house was decorated to evoke a sense of wonder at every turn. Interior designer Andrew Brown gathered objects from around the globe and across centuries, then mixed them with locally crafted and custom pieces to build richly layered rooms that welcome contemplation. “I wanted the interiors to reveal themselves slowly,” he says, “so that each time you enter a room, you might notice something new.”