Would you like to live in a big house with 99 windows? I guess it may still be relevant in modern times if you have a big extended family. Imagine having to call everyone in for dinner – shouting alone might not do it – you may have to get two-way radios 🙂
Back in the mid 1900s there were many such big houses in Guyana. One that is particularly intriguing and still around today is Dr. David Fraser’s House.
According to this Stabroek News (2014) article:
“The house dates from the 1920s and was famous for its house parties in the pre-war days and there is much political intrigue in its history in the 1970s. David Fraser could tell some spine-chilling accounts of what transpired between East Lothian and the then government.
“It would be such a pity if the house had to be demolished; three years ago it was in a state where it was too dangerous to climb the stairs. David Fraser lives in a modern green painted concrete house adjacent to the big house which looks odd juxtaposed with the old wooden structure. In 2005 the National Trust identified the building as one of the few remaining examples in East Berbice of the elegance of wooden architecture in colonial times, but that was eight years ago.
“With the opening of the Berbice Bridge access to this area of East Coast Berbice is only just over an hour’s drive from Georgetown and accessible to tourists. As a country with a plantation history Guyana cries out for a heritage museum depicting the plantation life and the history of sugar (Barbados seems to manage this) and East Lothian fits the bill. Let’s hope the house does not disappear altogether.
Reference: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2014/news/stories/04/20/deteriorating-heritage-building/
