St. John Hooch

I recently returned from an extended working vacation in the Virgin Islands, mostly St. John. I had lived there back in the 80's- and it was good to well, re-visit my youth. Many new houses, and people, but still many familiar faces. I was there to help my brother get back on his feet after a medical crisis. That I did, but I also managed to install a new version of the hooch on the island- a major goal. The most common hooch uses bamboo for the structural poles, and this style is definitely preferred. All the hooches at our place in Rincon', Puerto Rico, are made with bamboo- much of it grown on the property. St John does have bamboo, but not the type (timber bamboo) that would be appropriate. So, I re-designed the hooch to incorporate dimensional lumber throughout. The design worked beautifully. Designed with SketchUp, the Google 3D design software, the model in digital 3D space was transformed to a real life hooch, which fit together like a puzzle. Pre-fabbed, and assembled on site, the process was fast, and efficient. We used local bamboo for lamps, counter supports, plant hangers, a bamboo platform bed, and a chandelier.

You can see a complete series of related pics on FlickR:

http://flickr.com/photos/24242067@N00/sets/72157605381053033/

click on "slideshow"