Life with Andrea

  

We always think about the past, it must have been better, to have been royalty would have been wonderful, luscious clothes, entertainment, clear skies, hunting.  We tend to gloss over the inconveniences, such as lack of plumbing or central heating or running water.  But was there a time when one had both?  The choice is always – whether the things one is missing were less important than the things one had.  As we age, the newfangled toys seem further removed from our needs, so we elevate our own past, and sometimes any past. 

I think of this as I set out to write about a place important in my past, the past of the 1960s.  It was in itself a trip to a further past, a manufactured past, but I do not have the experience to know whence it was manufactured.  All I have is my experience -- The experience of living in a Caribbean castle. 

Sam Lord’s looked like a castle, but I expect it was more of a plantation house in function.  It was huge, white, had crenellations on top, and sweeping marble staircases.  The patio stretched across the entire back, looking out to the formal garden – a garden with paths, hedges, and a fountain – and beyond the garden to the sea.  Every day an army of gardeners and housekeepers must have tended the lawn and the castle to keep it all polished, with not a leaf out of place, a speck of crumble in the masonry, or a spot of dust.   All this I did not see at the time, I just knew it was fancy. 

Indoors I knew was more than fancy.  Indoors were the antiques, the 3 food wide walls.  The rooms that flowed into one another, each with fairly comfortable antique furniture, huge mirrors, wood floors scrubbed and waxed to a shine.  The plethora of rooms meant that in any one, you could be alone if you liked – and there was little noise.  Perhaps the carpets mitigated any sound, perhaps the high ceilings carried it away, perhaps it really was quiet aside from the birds outdoors.  All the castle was open to the out-of-doors.  Were it to be “shut up”, it would get stifling hot, so the breezes came through all the many windows and French doors.  I particularly remember some of the antique mirrors, because you could not see yourself very well in them – when silver gets old enough, especially in a salt water climate, it does not reflect well. 

Meals were made – you didn’t have to pay for them, just sign for them.  Any drinks you wanted, alcoholic or not, were available, and frequently you did not even need to sign for them, the staff knew who you were and just added them to your tab.  There was a game room with billiards, chess, cards, and other what I call “real” games – non-electronic games.  The library had comfortable chairs, individually or grouped in twos, and assorted hardcover books in a few languages.  Yes, there was running water, plumbing, electricity.  Heat was not needed in the Caribbean, nor was air conditioning if you left the house open and collected the ocean breeze. 

What was missing?  Electronics, cell phones, a constant connection to the outside world.  Being of my generation, I would not miss that, but modern people would.  For me, it could have been idyllic. 

It would not have been idyllic for the staff, however.  They would have to cook, without air conditioning.  They were the army of gardeners and housekeepers who kept everything lovely.  All the clothes and linens of guests were washed and hung out in the sun and ironed, before being returned to the owners.  And they always had to be polite.  I once wandered into the “kitchen garden” only to discover it was the one place where the staff had control of their lives.  They politely encouraged me to leave. 

I remember loving Sam Lords Castle, and always being a bit uncomfortable.  I loved the luxury, the climate, the water, the antiques, the silence.  Yet, knowing that I pretended to belong to a privileged class made me very uncomfortable.  At thirteen, I could not reconcile the two.  At sixty, I would love to return for a week to wooden floors, white walls, antiques, sea breezes, and an ocean warm as summer and blue as a spring sky.