What is Tutu?
Tutu and Anna’s Retreat are two names you will see for one residential part of St. Thomas, which the EPA calls the Anna’s Retreat suburban area. Official addresses pair them: the Department of Education lists Joseph A. Gomez Elementary School at “148-325 Anna’s Retreat, Tutu,” and the EPA lists its Tutu Wellfield site in the Tutu area of Anna’s Retreat.
The Census Bureau reports three overlapping areas, so check which one a figure describes:
- Estate Annas Retreat: 5,551 residents and 3,044 housing units in 2020. It was the most populous estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands, more than twice the next, Estate The Whim East on St. Croix (2,499).
- Tutu subdistrict: 5,129 residents and 2,777 housing units, on about 1.5 square miles. Its population fell 25.3 percent from 6,867 in 2010, the steepest drop of St. Thomas’s seven subdistricts. Housing units fell 3.9 percent.
- Tutu census designated place (CDP): 5,519 residents and 3,006 housing units, on about 1.6 square miles.
The estate counted more residents than the subdistrict because the boundaries differ; it is the only estate whose Census internal point falls inside the subdistrict. Explore the boundaries on our estate map.
What housing will you find?
Tutu has more houses and fewer apartment buildings than St. Thomas as a whole. In the 2020 Census, for the subdistrict:
| Housing units by building type | Tutu | St. Thomas |
|---|---|---|
| Detached single-family homes | 47.2% | 25.1% |
| Attached single-family homes | 9.2% | 5.2% |
| Two to four units | 35.1% | 43.0% |
| Five or more units | 8.1% | 25.7% |
Homes are larger than the island norm, and most were built in the 1960s and 1970s. The median home had 4.6 rooms, against 3.8 island-wide, and 59.6 percent of units were built in those two decades, against 41.7 percent island-wide. Owners occupied 57.4 percent of occupied homes (40.6 percent island-wide), and 20.9 percent of householders had moved in before 1980 (8.7 percent island-wide).
Few homes stand empty. On Census Day, 18.5 percent of units were vacant and 0.4 percent were held for seasonal use, the lowest shares of St. Thomas’s seven subdistricts.
Estimate as of October 2026. The 2020 Census put the median value of owner-occupied homes in the Tutu subdistrict at $276,087 and the median gross rent at $995 a month, against $356,977 and $960 for St. Thomas. These are 2020 figures, not current prices or asking rents.
Water, sewer and the Tutu Wellfield
Tutu is better connected to public sewers than most of the island. In 2020, 60.3 percent of housing units in the subdistrict reported a public sewer, second only to the Charlotte Amalie subdistrict, and 38.2 percent a septic tank or cesspool. For water, 84.9 percent reported a cistern, catchment, tanks or drums, 34.9 percent the public system and 19.8 percent a water truck. A home can report more than one source.
Groundwater is a different story. The EPA’s Tutu Wellfield Superfund site covers 1.5 square miles in the Anna’s Retreat section, where past industrial and commercial activities contaminated soil and groundwater with chlorinated volatile organic compounds. The EPA says the site was used for textile manufacturing and industrial-scale dry cleaning from 1969 to 1978. It built a groundwater treatment facility in 2004, and in 2024 announced Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to add wells and upgrade the equipment, work it estimated at about $14 million. Its 2021 proposal to update the cleanup also called for restrictions on groundwater use near the site.
The EPA’s site profile adds that the contaminated groundwater plume covers about 108 acres. The problem came to light in July 1987, when the owner of Tillet Gardens reported an odor in his well water, and DPNR then closed 13 commercial and five private wells. The EPA rates human exposure as under control but groundwater migration as not under control, and says homes it once supplied with trucked water are now on the public water system.
Getting around and nearby services
The Department of Public Works lists VITRAN Route 601, which runs from the Bus Depot past Vendor’s Plaza, Schneider Hospital, Home Depot and Tutu Park Mall to Old Tutu and New Tutu. Still, only 13.8 percent of households had no vehicle in 2020, against 18.8 percent island-wide.
Estimate as of October 2026. The department’s posted Route 601 timetable (undated, viewed in October 2026) shows outbound buses leaving the Bus Depot from 5:10 a.m., the last at 7:30 p.m.
Tutu Park Mall also houses public offices. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles lists its St. Thomas district office at 4605 Tutu Park Mall, and DPNR, whose divisions handle building and coastal permits, lists its St. Thomas office at 4611 Tutu Park Mall. WAPA’s website says its St. Thomas business office was moving to Four Winds Plaza on September 28, 2026.
See our directories of schools, healthcare, government offices and cistern and water services.
What should you check before you buy or rent?
- Parcel. Estate Annas Retreat holds more than 3,000 housing units, so confirm the exact parcel with the Tax Assessor’s online parcel search.
- Wells. If a property has a well, ask the EPA and DPNR whether groundwater use is restricted there before you rely on it.
- Sewer or septic. Ask which the home uses and, for septic, when it was last pumped.
- Building age. Many homes date from the 1960s and 1970s; have a home inspector check the roof, wiring and cistern.
- Flood exposure. FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center is the official source for flood maps; our hurricane and flood insurance guide explains cover.
For renting, see our long-term rentals guide, and for the island as a whole, our St. Thomas island guide.
_public_bus.jpg){kind=link}