November 2014 saw the start of work to restore a small Georgian house on King Street in Falmouth. This privately owned house is one of many in the town whose owners cannot afford the cost of conservative repair, and one of several small houses identified by the University of Virginia as of architectural importance.
We feel that it is important to help conserve small dwellings in order to demonstrate good conservation practice as well as to provide an opportunity to engage with local residents to show them the benefit of protecting and preserving Jamaica’s historic buildings.
FGSJ together with Falmouth Heritage Renewal US and the Ohrstrom Foundation are jointly funding the work, which will be complete by the end of the summer. This has been a major undertaking for Falmouth Heritage Renewal and has utilised all their skills in order to implement structural repairs to the two-storey timber frame, replace the roof structure and covering and install new services. The remaining historic fabric and features have been retained where possible, requiring skillful repairs to doors and windows etc.
Various members of FGSJ have been able to see the work in progress during visits to Jamaica and a fascinating account of the project has been created on Facebook.
