French Cloisters, Paradise Island, Reconstructed Gothic cloister in Paradise Island, Bahamas

The French Cloisters on Paradise Island is a reconstructed cloister made of Gothic stone elements from France, assembled in 1968 by J.J. Castremanne for Huntington Hartford. It stands in the Versailles Gardens, overlooking Nassau Harbor on one side and the One & Only Ocean Club on the other.

The cloister's origin is attributed to the former Augustinian monastery of Montréjeau, though art historian Céline Brugeat sees the elements as a new assembly of Gothic pieces from several vanished cloisters in the French Pyrenees, including Tarbes, Auch and Bouillas, with modern additions. William Randolph Hearst bought the Gothic elements in France intending to rebuild them in the United States. Parts later passed to Huntington Hartford, who had them reconstructed in a park on Paradise Island in 1968 by J.J. Castremanne.

The cloisters show how European religious spaces can exist in a tropical setting, blending medieval French craftsmanship with Caribbean nature in an unexpected way.

The site is accessible through guided tours where visitors can explore the architectural details up close. The surrounding gardens provide pathways to view and photograph the structure from various angles.

Art historian Céline Brugeat argues the cloister is not a single transplanted monastery: she identifies a new assembly of Gothic elements from several vanished cloisters of the French Pyrenees, including Tarbes, Auch and Bouillas, plus modern additions. Related pieces were reused in Hammond Castle in Massachusetts.