Government House, The Bahamas
Encyclopedia
Built on a hill known as Mount Fitzwilliam and completed in 1806, this imposing stuccoed-coral-rock building on Duke Street is the Bahamian archipelago's foremost example of Georgian Colonial architecture. In 1814, Colonel Don Antonio de Alcedo
Antonio de Alcedo
Antonio de Alcedo was a soldier and scholar.Born at Quito , 1755, where his father was President of the Real Audiencia de Quito from 1728 to 1737. He selected the military career, and rose to the rank of Brigadier General in 1792, in the Spanish army...
, a Spanish scholar and soldier, wrote admiringly of its effect. The Oriental Herald, in 1825, stated: "The new Government-House, standing on the centre of the ridge that overlooks the town, was built by a sum voted by the House of Assembly from the funds of the Treasury and cost upwards of 20,000l. It is built in the European style of architecture, and is universally considered the best building of the kind throughout the West Indies".
The building's original neoclassical aspect, as well as its stone construction, was directly influenced by the arrival of Loyalist
Loyalist
In general, a loyalist is someone who maintains loyalty to an established government, political party, or sovereign, especially during war or revolutionary change. In modern English usage, the most common application is to loyalty to the British Crown....
s from the southern United States in the 1780s. Previously most Bahamian buildings had been built of painted wood. Typically Bahamian elements, however, include louvered wood shutters and brightly painted exterior, in this case a brilliant shade of conch-pink. The primary façade, centered on a pedimented entrance supported by four stout Ionic
Ionic
Ionic or Ionian may refer to:In ancient Greece:* Ionians, a people, one of the three great divisions of the ancient Greek people* Ionia, an ancient region in western Anatolia, in which the Ionian settlers established some colonies....
columns, dates from the 1930s, when the building was remodeled following the hurricane of 1929.
History, 1737—1932
The original Government House on this site was completed in 1737, as a home for Governor Richard Fitzwilliam. That building was supplanted by a neoclassical structure built between 1803 and 1806; Charles Cameron was the first governor to occupy it. This two-story incarnation measured more than 100 feet in length, and its primary façade, overlooking the harbor, was dominated by a full-length upper gallery supported by ten columns. In 1909 the east wing was added; the west wing is commonly known as the Windsor Wing, named for a onetime governor, the Duke of WindsorDuke of Windsor
The title Duke of Windsor was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937 for Prince Edward, the former King Edward VIII, following his abdication in December 1936. The dukedom takes its name from the town where Windsor Castle, a residence of English monarchs since the Norman Conquest, is...
.
Government House was seriously affected by the hurricane of 1929. As a history recounts, "[T]he eastern wing of the Government House was unroofed on three sides and damaged to the extent that it was not fit for occupancy so major repair work had to be done to the roof and buildings". This restoration work, which included the removal of the original gallery and its replacement by the current temple-like entrance and cupola-topped roof, was completed in 1932.
The statue of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
, which stands at the harborside entrance of the building, was reportedly designed in London by an aide to American novelist Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
, a Columbus biographer. The 12-foot-tall representation was placed in front of Government House by Governor James Carmichael Smyth in 1830 and is "notable for its size rather than its artistry". As another observer wrote of the statue, "It is fortunate that the statue is labeled, for otherwise no one would ever guess that the swaggering, piratical-looking figure, with a slouch hat cocked rakishly on its head and a toga over its shoulder, is intended to represent Columbus".
Renovation, 1940—1941
From late 1940 through 1941, Government House, then described as "a cracked and flaking edifice ... with about as much warmth and atmosphere as Wellington Barracks", was renovated by the Duchess of Windsor, whose husband, the DukeDuke of Windsor
The title Duke of Windsor was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937 for Prince Edward, the former King Edward VIII, following his abdication in December 1936. The dukedom takes its name from the town where Windsor Castle, a residence of English monarchs since the Norman Conquest, is...
, formerly King Edward VIII of Great Britain, served as Governor of the Bahamas from 1940 to 1945. During the renovation of the interiors—which suffered from an excess of high-gloss blue paint and worn Victorian furniture—the Windsors occupied Sigrist House, the residence of Sir Frederick Sigrist, a British aviation magnate, "who offered to let them use it while repairs and redecorations were in progress.http://www.manysteps.com/bahamas.htm The couple's term at the Sigrist house ended when they agreed to move to Westbourne, the mansion of industrialist Harry Oakes
Harry Oakes
Sir Harry Oakes, 1st Baronet was an American-born British Canadian gold-mine owner, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He earned his fortune in Canada and moved to the Bahamas in the 1930s for tax purposes. He was murdered in 1943 under notorious circumstances in the Bahamas...
.
The Government House renovation architect was an American, Sidney Neil, who practiced largely in Palm Beach, Florida.http://www.palmbeachpreservation.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.jcmaa&x=2726043 In addition to structural repairs, the building was replumbed and rewired; a new wing was built as well, for the Windsors' staff and offices. (The so-called Windsor Wing is now used by the Royal Bahamian Defence Force.) The interior decorator for Government House was a friend of the Duchess's, socialite Isabel T. Bradley (Mrs Winthrop Curtis Bradley). As the Duchess informed her aunt Bessie Merryman, in a September 1940 letter, "[T]ogether we are going to dish this shack up so that at least one isn't ashamed of asking the local horrors here". Client and decorator purchased furnishings from the United States and via mail order for the project. The resulting decor was described as "'frankly smart and modernistic' with Regency touches" and included a room with baseboards made of natural rattan and a table whose surface was ornamented with a three-foot-long replica of Duchess's signature. The Duchess "introduced New York wallpapers and she painted one room exactly the same shade of her favorite face powder".http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1540678/John-Pringle.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/centralamericaandcaribbean/jamaica/722930/Jamaica-High-societys-giddy-days-at-the-Hill.html
Though the budget for the renovation had been set at $6,000 by the House of Assembly
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level....
, the eventual cost turned out to be $21,000, much of it paid for by the Windsors, but the results were "now so charming the Duchess of Windsor has been blessed by every succeeding Governor's wife". One of the Duchess's suggested improvements, however, was denied. As recounted in a lengthy profile of the Windsors in Life published in 1941, "In the modernization of Government House, the Duchess wanted to remove the front door which was a relic of an older government house and which had withstood all hurricanes, even the famous storm of 1929. The door also withstood the Duchess who was permitted to cover the upper half of the battered wood with a black glass panel on which is appropriately printed in white the famous device of the Duke's Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
—Honi soit qui mal y pense". The glass plaque was shipped from the Windsors' house in France and remains in place.
See also
- Government Houses of the British Empire
- Governors General of the Bahamas