Cayman Brac’s rich architectural heritage is being preserved through renovations of several old traditional homes around the island.
One such home getting a revamp is Miss Niva Scott’s house in Bamboo Bay, with her niece Ellen Lazzari spearheading the project.
Lazzari, speaking with the Cayman Compass during a tour of the house recently, said she wanted to restore it as a homage to her family.
“I wasn’t born in Cayman Brac, but I used to come for holidays from Grand Cayman and this is where I would stay ‘cos my family’s been here since 1935,” she said.
Lazzari said the story of the Eldemire House on the Brac, which was built in 1928, restored in 2012 and is under renovation again, has given her an added push to do the same with her family home.
She said she is seeing the community embracing the idea of protecting Brac’s architectural history with other people taking steps to restore their old homes.
“That’s what it’s about… that, one by one, we’ll get these old houses preserved. There’s no money to be made in it. There’s no rent to be made in it. We are not looking [at it] like that. We just want to preserve our culture, preserve our built heritage,” she said.
The home under renovation by Lazzari, known as Miss Niva’s House, is split into two buildings.
She said while it holds special memories for her, it is also a treasure trove of local history she wants to share.
“[The] portion in the back is built from wood that was reclaimed from a house that was being built out on the bay. That house was destroyed in the 1932 storm, so they saved the wood and they built back the back section of the house in 1935. The front section of the house was purchased in the 1940s when my father became [old] enough to work and saved some money,” she said.
That front section, she said, was purchased in Stake Bay and transported along the roadway using thatch rollers.
It was then deposited at the front of the property and reassembled.
“What I found fascinating when we were doing the restoration is that the floors… [are] mastic beams. You wouldn’t see it, but the original beams are still there, and they were still level and they were still straight. So somebody went on the bluff, cut the trees, brought them, shaped them and they’re still here,” she said, proudly.
More than a renovation
The project started out as a vision of restoring her family’s property, but Lazzari said it has turned into much more.
“It’s certainly become, I guess, a preservation of my heritage and, by extension, the heritage of the Cayman Islands,” she said, as she pointed to the many trinkets and collections of memorabilia that adorned the rooms of the quaint quarters of the house.
Portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip hang on the walls, along with photos of members of the Scott family tree.
Antique furniture, some of which came from the original home, is laid out in each room and each carries its own story.
Lazzari said she has been left with an “amazing” feeling seeing the 600-square-foot property restored to its former glory.
“It feels like a palace to me even though it’s small. It’s quite a labour of love, not just for me, but for my husband as well. Certainly we want to always thank the crew that we had who helped with the cleaning,” Lazzari said, as she became visibly emotional.
She said when her aunt died in 2014, the home remained untouched until renovation began in 2021.
“It took us pretty much that year to get it going. Unfortunately, as all old houses are, we came back and found termites again. That was heartbreaking but that’s an old house, there’s always going to be work,” she said.
However, Lazzari said once the house is fully renovated, she hopes the National Trust can use the home as a historical attraction.
“My goal is more educational, and maybe we may be able to use it as a source of income… for the National Trust that I’m part of… we don’t know quite yet because there is still work to be done,” she added.
Lazzari said the inside and outside kitchen still needs some work and other parts of the home need finishing touches.
She said she preserved her grandmother’s china cabinet which holds treasures like commemorative tea cups and glasses issued when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned.
Lazzari added she intends to get memorabilia from King Charles’s upcoming coronation to add to the prized collection.
“The Royal family has always been part of our heritage. They were looked up to. They always [were] part of whatever we had,” she said.
She said her favourite piece in the house is the old dining table made from mahogany that was to be used for her grandfather’s coffin.
“It’s fantastic because it has [levers] on it to make it bigger or smaller and I guess he decided he liked eating more than thinking of dying,” she said, jokingly.
Two old turtle shells, which were typical adornments in the old days, are also set to be hung on the living room walls, she added.
Lazzari said members of the community have also donated some of their old furniture to add to the heritage element of the home.
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