Driving around the Savannah in
Port of Spain is a unique experience in the West Indies, for preserved are, to
a degree, a parade of splendid residences that in many ways reflect the
multi-cultural nature of our society. One writer, Patrick lee Fermor, wrote in
his book "The Traveller's Tree":
"The buildings around the
Savannah at Trinidad are some of the most remarkable buildings in the world.
The essential skeleton is the high-garbled, acute-angled gingerbread house of
the witch in 'Handles and Gretel'. Bristling with pinnacles and weathercocks,
spiked and filled along the coping. Georgian bow windows, roofed like Chinese
pagodas. Pillars and porticoes from the Parthenon or Ankor buttresses, the
fabric and the mosaic of Byzantium and from the steep roofs grow the spines of
Hohenschwangau."
Fermor is almost incomprehensible
- the words tumble from him. In comparing the mansions to the witchhouse in
'Hansel and Gretel', using words describing architecture from around the world,
he really describes what the magic of these buildings have done to him!
Of these buildings, No. 12
Queen's Park West, the home of the Boissière family for almost 100 years, is of
special interest. It is the only residence around the Savannah that is still
lived in by the family who built it. John Newel Lewis, architect, remarks that
it is a classic, Trinidadian building, not in a Greek or roman sense, but in
its own league and norm of excellence. Comparing it with the other houses,
Newel Lewis says in his book "Ajoupa":
"This dwelling is not a
mansion. It is on a smaller scale and it is a simpler building, heavily
embellished."
Commonly called the
"Gingerbread House" by Port of Spainers, the house's main element is
its steeply pitched roof, covered by green slate. A large dormer gable is most
beautifully decorated with fretwork. The gallery projections are incredibly
beautiful and include a whole Chinese pavilion. With this house, one feels that
the fretwork has reached its ultimate. the wood is heavily undercut and
exaggerated, so that there is an impression of lace work, resembling a woman
swirling in a lacy dress.
#12 Queen's Park West was built
in 1904 by the architect Edward Bowed, a personal friend of the owner Charles
Edward Hamilton Boissière. C.E.H. Boissière was the eldest son of Eugene
Boissière, a merchant of Port of Spain and a cocoa planter, a descendant of the
Boissière family of Champs Elysées. Charles had built this home for his wife
Alice, née Elegon, a gift that was presented to her on their return from a
visit to England.
The ceilings in the drawing and
dining rooms are of gesso work, done by the Italian craftsmen who did the
ceilings in the Stollmeyer's house and in the Council Chamber of the Red House.
The stained glass windows with their meandering strawberry vines in the little
study with its Chinese roof filter the morning sun and cast a soft light into
this cheerful room. The floor tiles in the study as well as the gallery were
imported from England and the large single slab marble steps at the entrance
come from Italy.
The whole effect is magical and
nostalgic, with mysterious colours and a melancholy air. This house is an
example of Trinidad's visual heritage as its best.
The houses that ring the Savannah
are well built and sensibly engineered. They have weathered well, considering
that they were built almost a century ago. It is important that these valuable
examples of our heritage be maintained, so that our children's children too may
marvel at them.
