Barbados Heritage: The Chattel House Story
Discover Barbados' Chattel House History. The belongings house is one of the most recognisable symbols of Barbados-- a small wooden home with intense Caribbean colours, steep gable roofs, and verandahs that welcome the breeze. However beyond their charm, belongings houses bring an effective and uniquely Barbadian story. These homes emerged after emancipation, when previously enslaved individuals were totally free however still had little access to land. Plantation owners managed the majority of the island, so workers typically resided on land they did not own. Their homes needed to be theirs-- but likewise needed to move with them if the landowner changed, the work moved, or the family looked for a new start. The service was ingenious: construct a home that could walk. Set on coral stone obstructs instead of a fixed structure, the effects home could be raised, shifted, and rolled to a new location. Neighbours would collect to help, turning every relocation into a minute of communit...