LIVE
PROPERTY
Oliver Messel built Mango Bay from scratch for the Mellon heiress Sally Aall Photo: Mike Toy - reproduced from Architecture & Design in Barbados
Villa Nova drawing by Henry Fraser
At Fustic House Oliver Messel blasted a swimming pool out of the coral cliffside Photo: Mike Toy - reproduced from Architecture & Design in Barbados
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Ins & Outs of Barbados
Oliver Messel built Mango Bay from scratch for the Mellon heiress, the elegant and generous benefactor Sally Aall, who refurbished the Aall Gallery at the Barbados Museum, and donated a valuable collection of antique maps. Oliver Messel was described by everyone as “one of the nicest people ever”, “brilliant”, “always in demand”, “wouldn’t kill an ant”. But he often changed his mind in mid-construction, and according to Nick Parravicino, quoted in Island in the Sun – the Story of Tourism in Barbados, would say “That’s wonderful darling, but I think we are going to have to pull it all down and start over again!” Mango Bay was a victim of his frequent absent mindedness, because when it was completed, the splendid upstairs master bedroom suite was discovered to have no staircase to reach it … so external stairs were added, so that the contours of the house wouldn’t be spoilt! The house was later owned by American congressman Averil Harriman and his wife Pamela, later US Ambassador. Messel also designed a charming pavilion at Government House and redesigned the interior of Queen’s Park House, residence of the British General in residence since 1782, creating the Daphne Joseph Hackett Theatre and an art gallery. The house is sadly in disrepair and in need of a champion! It is perhaps the only Messel Masterpiece not in good shape! But his favourite work was Fustic House, which he enlarged from a modest old plantation house to a fairy tale Palladian villa, with a beautiful Messel wing in his classic style. He blasted a swimming pool out of the coral cliffside, and with charming theatre-style double entrances to the house from a courtyard, an elegant Plantation annexe and 12 acres of exotic tropical guardians, the house is justifiably famous in the global villa rental market. Bring your guests and come for a unique party in Paradise! Two other important British political figures were attracted to Barbados, through Ronald Tree. The first was Lord Beaverbrook, who bought a sea side plot of land at Paynes Bay for his daughter, the Honourable Janet Kidd. She bought Holders Plantation, expanded the old plantation house as her residence, promoted Barbados, established a dairy farm, created the polo field, and like Ronald Tree found that her house simply couldn’t accommodate her guests! And so Tamarind Cove Hotel was born, on the site her father had bought her. Holders has given birth to the famous Holders Season (theatre, opera and music) every March, organised by Wendy Kidd and her son polo trainer Jack Kidd, and is host to a Farmer’s Market on Sundays. And so Holder’s – a legendary Barbadian name – plays a wonderful role in both Bajan culture and Bajan tourism. The other famous political figure was Sir Anthony Eden. To get away from politics as much as possible, he bought Villa Nova in 1965 – after his retirement – and spent his winters here. He hugely enjoyed the 14 acres of forest and gardens and described it, of course, as his Garden of Eden, and hosted HRH Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh and lots of English celebrities. He sold it in 1971 to a Barbadian couple, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Hunte, who opened it to the public with their lovely connection of antiques. It was bought and developed as a luxury historic inn by Lynne Pemberton, but sadly it closed, was bought by the now bankrupt Caribbean Life Insurance Company (CLICO) and it stands forlorn in the Garden of Eden – a glorious queen awaiting a valiant knight in shining armour to save it, redecorate it, and reopen this heavenly palace in Paradise for guests once again.