16 
House & Garden 
part of the 19th— 
when real architec¬ 
ture of domestic 
character fell into 
abeyance for Eng¬ 
lish speaking peoples 
and we were deliv¬ 
ered over for a peri¬ 
od to uninspired 
ideals — Bermuda 
has drawn her archi¬ 
tectural inspiration 
from England, but 
in everv case has 
modified her types to 
suit the needs of the 
climate and the na¬ 
ture of the building 
materials. In this 
modification not only 
have forms of archi¬ 
tectural details and 
items of construction 
undergone a change, 
but oftentimes there 
has been a radical 
change of plan as well. Never¬ 
theless, the close relationship with 
English prototypes is clearly trace¬ 
able in Bermudian houses. 
.\t the beginning of the chron¬ 
icle we find houses whose design 
was obviously derived from small 
English manor houses and cot¬ 
tages of late Tudor and early 
Stuart times. This general type 
continued, with few change s, 
through the 17th Century and into 
the early years of the 18th. The 
age of Queen Anne left some 
traces that are still recognizable 
in i)resent-day examples. 
Georgian and Other Influ¬ 
ences 
The next bold and distinct step 
in the evolution of Bermuda archi¬ 
tecture was a vigorous Georgian 
phase which lasted till the end of 
the 18th Century. 
After that, there were sporadic 
instances where both Adam and 
Classic Revival influences might 
be traced without difficulty. The 
The north, front at “Bloomfield" shows the wings extending on each 
side, in the maimer of the old Maryland and Virginia houses. It is a 
characteristic type of Bermudian Georgian, built on the E plan 
In its hipped roof, modified classical porch and general plan — 
which is in the form of an"E”with wings projecting toward the 
water front, “Waterville” exhibits decided Queen Anne influence 
Classic Revival, 
however, never took 
a strong hold in Ber¬ 
muda any more than 
did Empire forms 
in furniture, which 
there seems to have 
been arrested in de- 
velopment at the end 
of the distinct 
Sheraton phase. 
Throughout the 
three centuries of 
Bermuda’s history 
there were no archi¬ 
tects until a compar¬ 
atively recent date 
so that most of the 
houses, certainly all 
of those built prior 
to the 19th Century, 
were due to intel¬ 
ligent collaboration 
between the owners 
and the master car¬ 
penters and masons, 
just as were nearly all of our best 
18th Century houses in America. 
E iider such circumstances we 
naturally expect to find conserva¬ 
tism in methods and close fidelity 
to time-honoured traditions of 
craftsmanship, much closer than 
if trained architects had from 
time to time directed construc¬ 
tional details; nor are we disap¬ 
pointed. The departures from 
precedent, therefore, are all such 
as have been dictated by com¬ 
mon sense, to meet the demands 
of the materials or the special re¬ 
quirements of the climate. 
Houses of Coral and Cedar 
Before discussing the houses 
themselves, a word about the ma¬ 
terials will be in order. The 
island of Bermuda is mainly of 
rock coral formation and this 
rock coral is the universal building 
material. When first quarried, it 
is of a warm cream colour that 
weathers to a silver grey, and is 
{Continued on page 60) 
At "Waterlot" the parlour—to use the good old English name—has 
a “tray" ceiling, carried up to the height of the roof, keeping the 
room cool. This ceiling can be adapted to American summer homes 
The dining-room of “Bloomfield” is furnished with “cedar” pieces 
of Bermudian manufacture. The general lines were imported from 
England and local cabinet-makers reproduced them in native juniper 
