During early 2021, after spending a few days frolicking in Aspen, the sisters Kylie and Kendall Jenner switched from their Loewe snow boots to a trove of teeny-weeny bikinis, then boarded Kylie’s $73 million snack-packed PJ and headed south to Costa Careyes, which is a secluded oceanfront resort community and a nature preserve along Mexico’s rugged Pacific Coast that has been attracting the international glitterati for decades as a somewhat under-the-radar private playground for international celebrities.
There is no doubt that these social media mavens rent the apartment for at least $6,500 per night, which means they have a combined following of more than 650 million Instagram followers, so the cost per night is at least $6,500 per night. In an emerald-colored villa perched on the edge of a cliff above the emerald waters of the Caribbean, they were holed up in a lovely, marigold-hued villa that overlooked the emerald ocean below.
According to Rich Report, a couple of 20-something siblings and a female gal pal spent a few days there, resulting in social media FOMO as they posed for endless selfies highlighting the villa’s incredible architecture and rarefied ambiance in front of the sun, which caused some social media FOMO. Sol de Oriente, a clifftop vacation compound in the Dominican Republic famous for its Instagrammable aesthetics, was recently listed for sale for million.
It was 1968 when Italian artist, banker, and real estate developer Gian Franco Brignone flew over a deserted stretch of rain forest and jagged coastline between Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta. Although there were no roads connecting the 20,000 acres of land to nearby towns, Brignone saw a future in these eight-mile stretches of deserted coast.
The high-end hideaway, designed by the businessman and bon vivant, was intended to be a meeting place for a coterie of artists, celebrities, and deep-pocketed bohemians to come together for inspiration and relaxation.
Over the years, many innovative architects have designed the homes built with skilled local artisans. He wanted to create a new form of architecture combining rounded, feminine walls with ‘elephant skin’ stucco roofs; reminiscent of Mediterranean architecture, but with sky-high palapa roofs.“
It is the antithesis of Cancun and its accessibility is much lower than Tulum, where there are only about 100 or so residences of varying sizes and a boutique beachfront hotel that has several dozen rooms with high-end amenities. There have been a number of fashion and showbiz heavyweights that have called the enclave home, including Tom Ford, Robert De Niro, Mick Jagger, and Uma Thurman. It has actually been called “Hollywood’s best kept secret” by The Hollywood Reporter at one point in time.
A number of eccentric artworks and installations are displayed throughout the secluded resort, which counts fewer than 50 full-time residents, and for the last five or six years, in November, a select few boho beau monde gather at Careyes for Ondalinda, an ultra-luxe festival of spirituality, art, and wellness that is by invitation only.
Sol de Oriente was designed by visionary French architect Jean-Claude Galibert in collaboration with Brignone and offers owners and guests the best in privacy. With a triple-decker palapa and a moat-like infinity-edge pool, the castle-shaped main villa offers three deluxe bedroom suites and thousands of square feet of open-air living spaces that spill to numerous terraces and swimming pools.
Two casitas with ocean views are set into a jungle-covered hillside below the pool, while a two-story tower with another bedroom and bath is located near the cliff’s edge. The accessory villas are connected to The Castle by a glute-firming stairway, but the tower suite can also be accessed by funicular! An extensive staff quarters are located in a separate building.
In addition to Sol de Oriente, just across the crescent-shaped Playa Careyitos lies Sol de Occidente, its mirror image in pale green.
At 96 years old, Brignone passed away earlier this year, and Careyes is now managed and carried forward by his family and heirs. Sol de Oriente is now owned by Brignone’s son, Filippo Brignone, and is available through Carolwood Estates’ Denise Moreno and Gordon MacGeachy.
