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Dream House | Nostalgic Spring Farm cottage filled with history

Published:Sunday | April 3, 2022 | 12:09 AM
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With hammocks for him and her, this is the perfect place to relax for both of you.
Nigel Lord
With hammocks for him and her, this is the perfect place to relax for both of you.
The principal bedroom inside the Spring Farm cottage.
Nigel Lord
The principal bedroom inside the Spring Farm cottage.
The homely interior is filled with nostalgia.
Nigel Lord
The homely interior is filled with nostalgia.
The patio oversees a thicket of greenry.
Nigel Lord
The patio oversees a thicket of greenry.
The cozy cottage of late former Ambassador Frank Pringle.
Nigel Lord
The cozy cottage of late former Ambassador Frank Pringle.
Former Ambassador Frank Pringle’s early 1970’s bungalow has been redone and embellished with a lot of the memorabilia fondly associated with his life.
Contributed
Former Ambassador Frank Pringle’s early 1970’s bungalow has been redone and embellished with a lot of the memorabilia fondly associated with his life.
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The history of a house is inextricable from that of its owner. Many times, it’s the lives lived and revealed behind the walls of homes that ignite our actual fascination with them — even more than the building’s architectural merits!

Our path to yet another discovery leads us to the cottage in Spring Farm, Rose Hall, St James, of a late iconic personality whose memory lives on right here in perpetuity.

Ambassador Frank Pringle was born in St Ann in 1930 and passed away in 2018 at the age of 88 years old, leaving one daughter. He was educated both in Jamaica and at Eaton Hall Officer Cadet School in England and had an early military career that saw him commissioned to Oxfordshire and Buckingham Light Infantry and seconded to the Jamaica Regiment of the Jamaica Defence Force. He was also trained in management at the Centre D’Etudes Industrielles, Geneva, Switzerland.

His service to this nation and erstwhile endeavours are worthy of veneration, including his stint as aide-de-camp to Governor Hugh Foot in 1953. He was a founder and director of the Tryall Club Resort; director of Air Jamaica; senator and minister of tourism in Michael Manley’s Cabinet; a member of the Jamaica Tourist Board, and chairman and founder of the Montego Bay Legal Aid Clinic. The special envoy and special adviser to prime ministers was also a key architect in bringing the prestigious Johnny Walker Golf Tournament to Jamaica.

As an acclamation to a man born and bred in extreme privilege (who never lost the common touch with the working class), this early 1970’s bungalow has been redone, embellished with a lot of the memorabilia fondly associated with his life. The shrine is augmented with two air-conditioned bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, a rustic kitchen, a dining space, and a full, wood-panelled living area.

High–sheen mahogany wood floors run mainly throughout, with bathrooms in terrazzo tiles. The nostalgic interior is both cosy and so homely, facilitating camaraderie among the invited.

There’s also a sun terrace and a separate patio, which watches over the two acres of seemingly untouched vegetation.

We thank Navin and Katerina Chandiramani, and Neena Chandiramani for bringing this house of memories to us for exploration and enlightenment.

Navin, who has an MBA, studied interior design, and his wife, Katerina, also with an MBA, is a civil engineer. Together, their sheer love of architecture has further cemented their love affair.

- Barry Rattray is a dream house designer and builder. Email feedback to barry-rattray@hotmail.com and lifestyle@gleanerjm.com.