Rose Hall

Montego Bay, Jamaica

  
    Admission fee
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    Photography
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    Docent
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    Gardens
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    Audio tour
    
    Furnishings
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    Tour brochure
    
    Rebuilt
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    Museum shop
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    Primary focus
    residents

Toured December 2012

Rose Hall is one of the few Great House plantation homes left in Jamaica. It was built around 1750 in the Georgian style of cut limestone on the bottom two floors and plaster on the top floor. There were originally two arms on each side of the main building that extended to the rear. The interior has thick walls and mahogany trim. The main building was restored in the 1970s after a century of non-habitation; the arms were not restored. The interior was completely reconstructed and the trim replicated from remaining examples of the originals. A docent leads the tour through rooms on all three levels, including the entry hall, dining room, office, and bedrooms. The dungeon level retains the original flooring and one of the cells originally used for punishing slaves. The rest of the dungeon level contains modern restrooms and a restaurant and bar.

While the house is an grand example of a Great House, very little is original and an inordinate about of the tour was spent on the legend of “the white witch,” Annee Palmer, who supposedly collected husbands who proceeded to die in suspicious ways. A night “ghost” tour is offered that spends even more time on the legend.

Features. The mahogany trim, particularly the interior staircase banister, is beautiful. Although furnished, only about seven items can be traced back to Rose Hall, including a bell pull (see photo), a chaise (see photo), two or three paintings, and a copper item like I’d never seen before (see photo). The day tour ends with the docent singing a song composed by Johnny Cash, who was a friend of the current owners, specifically for the tour.

Grounds. The grounds are a delightful mixture of modern and restored landscaping and original plantings and structures, plus several feral cats. There is a lily pond and water trail/spillway (see photo) that have been restored and some sort of fruit tree (see photo) that is original to the grounds. This is also a tomb purported to be the burial site of Annee Palmer.