Dream House | Historic 200-y-o great house revived on St Mary estate

This, unarguably, is a rare residential, architectural find! We searched relentlessly, convinced that the supposed rumours, our research, and exploration, would yield positive results. They did.

Deep in the countryside of St Mary, the endless lonely road leads you to the district of Labyrinth. You cannot see the house from the main road, because it’s over a mile in from the entrance.

Welcome to a 204–acre working farm estate, with its own network of internal roads, where you are able to access hills and valleys of timberland, exhibiting an abundance of cedar, sweet wood and Spanish elm trees. Copious numbers of varied fruit trees are also evident, with coconut and pimento trees, nature trails, and cattle rearing. The property, at its lower section, has connections to a river and plunging waterfalls.

Standing nobly at the highest peak of this farmstead is the over 200-year-old great house. The comprehensively and meticulously renovated building (almost came crashing down because of termites) has a new lease on life. Its 3,800 square feet encompasses a portico, five bedrooms and three bathrooms, a great room (living area), and dining and cooking arrangements to whet your appetite.

Interior finishes incorporate appealing, pine wood and terrazzo floors, some tray ceilings, recessed lighting, bathroom glass showers, and cedar wood basin vanities, and furniture locally crafted. The exterior is a combination of stone and wood walls. Superlative 360 degree sea and mountain views entice all invitees who enter its unostentatious farmhouse lifestyle layout.

Over the years, the property has been a banana and citrus plantation, and at one time, more recently, the largest pig facility on the island. Today, it’s mainly livestock and pimento being carried out. It was Canadians who originally built the house, and now, it is owned by an electrical engineer/real estate investor, and his computer engineering wife.

This old house might belong to the past, but it’s also a part of contemporary society. Its future is secured for generations to come.

Barry Rattray is a dream house designer and builder. Email feedback to barryrattray1@hotmail.com and lifestyle@gleanerjm.com.