Sunbury Plantation House, one of Barbados’ historic attractions, is undergoing major renovations.Â
New owner Martin Ince, of Foster & Ince, is promising that when it reopens it will be a world-class attraction. Ince bought the 300-year-old property, located at Oldbury, St Philip, last year.
Twenty-five workers, some whom have been employed at Sunbury for the past 23 years, were severed.
Ince said some would get an opportunity to return when Sunbury reopens.
“We are closed for renovation. We closed two weeks ago. We have to do pretty major renovations during the summer of 2018 and we will announce the reopening date during the summer,” he said.
Without going into details, he revealed that there would be additions to the plantation house, but the grand architecture would remain intact.
“It is the only plantation open house in Barbados that is completely opened as a business attraction on all three floors – that is going to remain unchanged. We are going to be sprucing things up and making additions to the property, improve the product that was there and make it into a world class attraction,” the tourism executive said.
Sunbury, which was built in 1660 and still features mahogany antiques, old prints and a unique collection of horse-drawn carriages, has served as a major tourist attraction. It also has a restaurant and bar and was used for weddings and other functions.
Sunbury was built by Matthew Chapman, one of the early English planters on Barbados. It was bought and restored by late optometrist Dr Keith Melville in 1981 who opened it to the public four years later. (MB)
