The Grange- A Historic Greathouse

A rustic gravel lane, shaded by duel rows of lignum vitae and mahogany trees, intrigued us one day as we were exploring St. Croix. We turned in and were richly rewarded with our first sighting of the historic 18th century Greathouse known as The Grange. Amazingly, Jane, the custodian of the estate (now a private residence), bade us park the car and she would give us an impromptu tour.

The house, Jane pointed out, features a cornerstone that suggests it was built in 1761. Government records, however, establish that the house changed hands in 1738, thus refuting the later date. The actual age of the house remains unknown.

The most interesting facet of Estate Grange to us was that, for several years, it was the home of Rachel Fawcett Levine, mother of the great American statesman, Alexander Hamilton, who, presumably, frequented the estate. She is buried on the premises and a gravestone was erected in the 1930′s to commemorate her death. Nearby stands a monument in memory of Danish gendarmes who died here during an outbreak of yellow fever in 1886 when the Greathouse was used as a convalescent house for those stricken at the Christiansted barracks.

On the north side of the structure, in an area that was once a formal botanical garden, stands the original plantation bell, cast in 1761 in Amsterdam. We admired the grounds as we made our way toward the greathouse, anticipating its bounty of artifacts, stories and glimpses into St. Croix’s past.

The main level of the Greathouse is served by a grand staircase ascending from the front door on the southwest corner of the building. This was added in the early 20th century. At the top of the stairs is the dining room.

Jane explained that the dining table (which seats 14 persons without its leaves in place) once resided at the Government House in St. Thomas. It was purchased at auction soon after Denmark sold the Virgin Islands to the United States in 1917. This room was, at one time, a gallery (as its plethora of windows attests). It was converted in 1929 to a dining room by its then new owners who bought The Grange after their house, in Beeston Hill, was destroyed by the devastating hurricane of 1928.

East of the dining room (nee gallery) is the high-ceilinged living room, or drawing room as it was known. This room is highlighted by a hand carved mahogany loveseat that at one time graced the Government House in Christiansted. There is also a large French armoire amongst the many other period pieces here.

In the east wall (which is 28 inches thick), a shuttered doorway opens precipitously on a vista of flat green fields that once were planted in sugar cane, St. Croix’s cash crop during the colonial period. A small conclave of converted slave quarters sits in a vale on the southeast corner of the property.

The Grange Greathouse has five bedrooms and four baths. Each bedroom has an old West Indian four poster bed and an armoire. High ceilings provide storage capability built into the walls above eye level in each bedroom. One bathroom features an old six-foot bathtub.

The basement level is comprised of two handsome, stone- and coral-walled bedrooms as well as myriad storage areas. Arched window openings and passageways lend a unique architectural flavor and a decidedly non-basement-like appearance to this level.

Emerging back outside on the western exposure, we viewed the foundation of the old cookhouse which has been capped and converted to an above-ground cistern. An overseers cottage, built of the most abundant local materials of the time, rubble and coral, stands to the southwest.

We meandered, trance-like, through the property, awed by the floral abundance we saw in every nook and cranny. Just beside the front door stands a lily pond in an antique cauldron.

Finally, and sadly, we said “goodbye” to our new friend, Jane, promised to return soon and drove off slowly down the lane. As a magical exclamation point to our adventure, a white-tailed deer trotted out of the bush and watched us nonchalantly as we made our way back to the 21st century.