Colombier

andynap

Senior Insider
image.jpeg
 
The structure in the photograph is not the property's principal residence. It was an art studio for Mr. Rockefeller's wife, Peggy, who was an environmentalist, particularly with respect to preservation of farm land.
 
The structure in the photograph is not the property's principal residence. It was an art studio for Mr. Rockefeller's wife, Peggy, who was an environmentalist, particularly with respect to preservation of farm land.

Dennis, a few of our clients that know we spend time on "that island" reflect back to the early days when they were house guests at the Rockerfeller's spread and how laid back their stay was and the island was back in those days. I would have loved to have seen the island 30 years ago.
 
Dennis, a few of our clients that know we spend time on "that island" reflect back to the early days when they were house guests at the Rockerfeller's spread and how laid back their stay was and the island was back in those days. I would have loved to have seen the island 30 years ago.

In a book written by one of David's daughters (Eileen, I believe), she described life with the family at the Colombier property. It was unpretentious, given the setting & family wealth, and a reasonably happy time. As with most families, however, there were personal issues that caused difficulties & sadness.

Regarding life on SBH 30 years ago, there was so much to love about the island (as there still is!). I'd say, however, that big changes were well underway by then. The turning point came, I think, in the period 1983 - 85. By 1986, Le Guanahani Hotel was open, & "big bucks" on Wall Street poured the opening salvos of hedonism into St. Barths. The flow continues, but as a close friend has observed, "If you go a block off the Main Street, the old St. Barths is still there."
 
In a book written by one of David's daughters (Eileen, I believe), she described life with the family at the Colombier property. It was unpretentious, given the setting & family wealth, and a reasonably happy time. As with most families, however, there were personal issues that caused difficulties & sadness.

Regarding life on SBH 30 years ago, there was so much to love about the island (as there still is!). I'd say, however, that big changes were well underway by then. The turning point came, I think, in the period 1983 - 85. By 1986, Le Guanahani Hotel was open, & "big bucks" on Wall Street poured the opening salvos of hedonism into St. Barths. The flow continues, but as a close friend has observed, "If you go a block off the Main Street, the old St. Barths is still there."


Agreed!
My in-laws thought the Manapany was the beginning of the end of St. Barts as they knew it.
 
yes but there is also a certain romanticism about the good old days.. but, houses were for the most part not air-conditioned, cars had manual transmissions and a Moke was a bear to get up that hill in Camaruche and don't even try if it was raining... no phones in hotel rooms and you had to go into town to the old un-air-conditioned post office to wait for a telephone booth to make a call with coins.. supplies in the supermarkets were limited greatly compared to today.. I think a lot of people who visit St Barth now would not have liked it then, as quaint as it seems in retrospect... we still don't sleep with air-conditioning, prefer a nice tropical breeze, and one of our cars is still manual... I guess we are pretty old-school...
 
. . . houses were for the most part not air-conditioned, cars had manual transmissions and a Moke was a bear to get up that hill in Camaruche and don't even try if it was raining... no phones in hotel rooms and you had to go into town to the old un-air-conditioned post office to wait for a telephone booth to make a call with coins.. supplies in the supermarkets were limited greatly compared to today..
I think, Ellen, that you've dscribed much of what captured the affections of SBH visitors in the 70s & early 80s. Local folks hardly knew what they didn't have . . . at least, weren't concerned by it. Visitors were beguiled by the simplicity of life. Anticipating our first visit in 1978, I asked Brook Lacour, co-founder of Sibarth, if we could bring her anything from the US. She memorably answered, "Oh no! Everything we want is right here!"
 
yes but there is also a certain romanticism about the good old days.. but, houses were for the most part not air-conditioned, cars had manual transmissions and a Moke was a bear to get up that hill in Camaruche and don't even try if it was raining... no phones in hotel rooms and you had to go into town to the old un-air-conditioned post office to wait for a telephone booth to make a call with coins.. supplies in the supermarkets were limited greatly compared to today.. I think a lot of people who visit St Barth now would not have liked it then, as quaint as it seems in retrospect... we still don't sleep with air-conditioning, prefer a nice tropical breeze, and one of our cars is still manual... I guess we are pretty old-school...

just like heaven to me..........you truly felt unplugged and away from it all on vacation in a place vastly different from your day to day life.....but now its become exactly what everyone wants ...Americanized and just like home, only with warmer air and water temps ....sad
 
I think, Ellen, that you've dscribed much of what captured the affections of SBH visitors in the 70s & early 80s. Local folks hardly knew what they didn't have . . . at least, weren't concerned by it. Visitors were beguiled by the simplicity of life. Anticipating our first visit in 1978, I asked Brook Lacour, co-founder of Sibarth, if we could bring her anything from the US. She memorably answered, "Oh no! Everything we want is right here!"

:up:
 
I like those warmer temps-an awful lot. And the many warm friendships made with the folk who live and visit there.
 
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