The sad demise of my old home/Plantation Inn in the Caribbean

I spent an idyllic childhood brought up on a beautiful sugar estate on the edge of Mount Pleasant in St.Kitts. I had chickens to look after and sugar cane stalks to chew on.

I was too young to appreciate the spellbinding panoramic views up the mountain behind and the palm fringed black volcanic beach below. The awesome views across the Statia channel where sometimes whales could be spotted blowing water spouts.

Years later my Father retired from the Army and went back there to run the Estate. I went out there for holidays and we swam in the huge water cistern with the wonderful Lilies growing round it. Every morning we had early morning tea on the virandah watching the sun rise, before walking the dogs up the mountain track and round the cane fields, where my Father would tell me all about growing the sugar cane. The dogs would sometimes chase the Vervet monkeys but they escaped up a tree. It was fun being a teenager with beach parties, boat trips to Nevis and swimming in warm turquoise seas. All good things come to an end. Following the Nationalization of the Sugar Plantations by the Government, lands were compulsory taken over initially without any recompense to the owners, who had subsequently lost their Plantations overnight which had been in their ownership for centuries and in some cases for 300 years following which many Plantations were abandoned.

My parents were offered a job by a hotel owner ( who later got killed in his light aircraft)  on Nevis to manage their Nisbet Plantation Hotel whose famous antecedent was Fanny Nisbet (the first wife of Nelson). It was a famous coconut plantation. There is still a magnificent avenue of coconut palms running down to a lagoon guarded by a reef. On one holiday my Father made a raft for my children, his grandchildren to play pirates upon in the shallows. Members of the Rockerfeller family who were staying at Nisbet, took a day trip to neighbouring St.Kitts and visited my parent’s family home to enjoy the superb views over the Statia channel and St. Barts.  Upon their return they were so spellbound by the location of Rawlins (family home) that they encouraged my parents to turn it into a Plantation Inn, instead of working for others. Saying they would bring their friends from America to stay once it was opened, which they did. They so enjoyed their experience that many of their friends followed in their footsteps.  My parents & brother worked very hard over the years to turn the old sugar buildings into stunning Caribbean style accommodations which gained international following with many guests returning year after year including the legendary Baron Edmund de Rothschild.

My mother worked hard in the hot kitchen to produce delicious meals for the guests and her remarkable homemade soups using local ingredients (and never wasting anything)  became famous.! She wrote a recipe book for visitors.  My Mother & Brother created Botanical gardens for the guests to walk around & enjoy. The magnificent Royal Palms, The African Tulip trees, Flamboyants, Hibiscus, Bougainvillea and many others. A virtual garden of Eden together with a mountain spring fed swimming pool and grass tennis courts.  My Father was front man, making guests his famous Rum Punches and telling stories of the history of the island and sugar in the Caribbean.

My brother sold the hotel after 20 years in the business to devote himself to other business interests. Thus the demise of Rawlins Plantation began, with it changing hands and a dramatic murder of one of the staff and the alleged perpetrator, the hotel’s General Manager is currently still in jail on St.Kitts awaiting trial. Following the murder Rawlins closed it’s doors followed by the recent inferno. A tragic ending to a once loved family home. Doubtless Rawlins Plantation will arise again from the ashes and once again give pleasure to those who seek to enjoy the beauty of the Caribbean.

The dramatic inferno that engulfed Rawlins Plantation Inn on the 9th May 2015 whilst saddening so many who had so enjoyed staying here over the years, marks a terrible chapter in the history of my family who first settled in St.Kitts in the mid 17th century following the Civil War in England.

Written by : Susie Groom