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Chattel House by Cheryl S. Jorgenson
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The paintings on exhibit in Our Island Homes illustrate the typical dwelling found in the West
Indies. The vernacular style homes include Chattel , Cunucu and Shotgun
styles. The materials and techniques of these structures blend native, European and African architectural
styles, reflecting the heritage of the islanders. For artists in the West Indies, these homes have
provided inspiration and appear often in their artwork.
The Chattel
house is found throughout the Lesser Antilles. It derives its name from the old feudal term for movable property.
The first chattel houses were the homes of plantation workers, so named by workers in Barbados. A good example of
this type of dwelling is found in Cheryl S. Jorgenson's Chattel House . The Chattel houses are designed
to be easily dismantled and moved. After emancipation, a plantation worker's employment was highly transient
in nature, and it was less expensive to move a house than build another. They are typically raised off the
ground and set on stone or concrete pillars, usually consisting of two rooms and a verandah or porch in the front
of the house. Weatherboard and corrugated metal siding are popular construction materials. In old houses,
the windows were shutter-like jalousies that could be opened for circulation and protected against hurricanes when
closed. Today, glass windows with shutters are more typical. Porches are often trimmed with white gingerbread fretwork.
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Cunucu House and Dividivi Tree by Florence Lo
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Another style of architecture unique to the islands is the Cunucu house. Found predominantly on
the island of Aruba, cun
ucu
is a Papiamento word for countryside, referring to the rugged interior of the island. The style again reflects
a blending of traditional European and native styles resulting in a uniquely Caribbean dwelling. This type of home is
captured in Florence Lo's Cunucu House and Dividivi Tree . A cunucu house consists of a central section with
one or two annexes and a built-on kitchen. The kitchen chimneys are usually distinctive, in a style the Arubans
call fagon . The houses typically have sidewalls extending all the way to the top, with one side of the
pitched roof flattened off with a gully to collect rain. They are brightly painted with red tile roofs. Unlike the
chattel houses, the Aruban homes have thick plaster walls.
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House in Carrington Village by Fielding Babb
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The Shotgun
style home is a Central African influenced vernacular style thought to have originated in the West Indies and
spread to the United States in the early nineteenth century. The rooms of the house are arranged one behind
the other with the gable side facing the street. In this way, a shotgun could be fired through the doorways
without hitting anything. The rooms tend to be quite small and open into each other. These are framed houses
with corrugated metal roofs. Fielding Babb's House in Carrington Village shows a good example of some
shotgun houses in Barbados.
The front porches of the Chattel and Shotgun house styles as well as the traditional
American home can also be attributed to th
e African
influence. It is clear from an exploration of these vernacular architectural styles that the homes of the West
Indian islanders are heavily influenced by the cultural heritage and environment of the builders. An example
of the African influenced plantation worker huts can be found in Grene Fuhring's Old County Home .
Note the thatched roof and wattle and daub walls of the hut.
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Old Country Home by Grene Fuhring
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