European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 4, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Quot it 5k- is the Rose Hall great House Home of the late Anne Palmer is now a tourist attraction. The Washington Post Scon Hoggatt a so lavish Plantation Homes offer haunting look at history by Scott Dowcett. The Washington Post with Raven hair penetrating Black eyes porcelain skin and a perfect Mouth Anne Mary Palmer had the severe Good looks today s fashion magazines Call devastating. Legend has it that Palmer As mistress of Jamaica s Rose Hall sugar Plantation from 1820 until her death in 1833, was As cruel As she Yas Beautiful. Many a time she ordered overseers to whip troublesome slaves to their Knees and it is said that she delighted in witnessing the floggings from her upper veranda. But the Quot White Witch of Rose Hall Quot As she is known throughout Jamaica nowadays was no less fiendish in her treatment of her three husbands. In the journal of a Rose Hall slave it is written that she poisoned stabbed and strangled them one by one with the help of a Witch doctor named taboo. Today the haunting White Stone Rose Hall is one of the Island s 46 remaining creat houses once the lavish Homes of wealthy 18th and 19th-Century Plantation owners. Most of the original houses which numbered 100 or so were set ablaze during slave rebellions. But a several survivors have been restored to their original splendor and Are available for touring. Rose Hall creat House for example is open to the Public and stands As a shining example of georgian Era 1714-1830 architecture adapted to Jamaica s Balmy weather. Others such As cinnamon Hill creat House where Johnny Cash and his wife june spend much of the year Are privately owned and closed to Public viewing. The great houses were built at a time when sugar Cane made Jamaica the wealthiest English Colony in the West indies. Architectural books imported from England supplied a european grounding to Jamaica s great houses but Island conditions dictated a distinctly Creole character. Locally quarried Stone and termite resistant tropical hardwoods were widely used whereas bricks which arrived from the Mother country As ballast were used sparingly. Similar houses in England s snowy latitudes wore Steep pitched roofs but respect for hurricanes in Jamaica inspired a squat profile and Caribbean climes made fireplaces unnecessary and ventilation All important whenever possible jamaican builders set houses on Hills to catch Trade winds and verandas were added to let Cooling breezes reach living quarters while keeping the blazing Sun out. The great House plan followed two main types the simple Block plan with the Hall and staircase in the 1 Center and the Central Block with wings to which Rose Hall belonged. Visitors to Rose Hall today Are treated to the legend of Annie Palmer As they receive a guided tour of the meticulously restored mansion which has been smartly furnished with elegant period pieces. Among the impressive features of Rose Hall located atop a Hill 10 Miles East of Montero Bay Are its superbly carved mahogany staircase a classically proportioned grand ballroom with Walls of Gray silk in an exotic Palm tree and Bird Motif and a morning room adorned with Blue and White chinese style Wall coverings and Blue Willow China displayed on a stately mahogany dining table. Of course it s the scenes of the crimes so to speak that intrigue most visitors to Rose Hall today a the Roo rps where Annie Palmer allegedly murdered and the eerily charming room where she herself was reported strangled by taboo in the shadows of a steamy december night. About five Miles East of Rose Hall perched High enough on a Hill to provide a sweeping View of the electric Blue Caribbean sits the most splendid of Jamaica s legendary Homes Greenwood great House. Built in the 1790s by Elizabeth Barrett Browning s Cousin the enormously wealthy Richard Barrett Greenwood was one of four great houses owned by the Barrett family and was erected solely for extravagant entertaining. Greenwood s mile Long driveway winds pleasantly around Homes built on parts of the original estate ending where it reaches a simple parking lot behind the great House. There a Small path guides visitors past a simple Limestone building surrounded by bougainvillea so rips neg Zine february 4, 1993 at Btu. 300 Miles ee1 300 pm puerto hath St a