British West Indies Style by Michael Connors

Once again author Michael Connors has offered a warm, and much welcome, visual reprieve from record cold temperatures, snow and freezing rains. In 2009 I did a post on Michael’s book Caribbean Houses (Rizzoli) and I have been looking forward to another book by the West Indian decorative arts scholar.

This time Michael turned his attention to the British West Indies. British West Indies Style is another stunning and significant account of the Caribbean, this time the interiors and architecture of English colonial homes and historic town houses.

From the British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Nevis, St. Kitts, Antigua and Barbados, to the lesser-known islands of Bequia, Dominca and Mustique, the book features close to fifty private homes. Many of the houses showcased in the revealing tome are hidden to visitors, making British West Indies Style much more than a 'picture book,' it’s a mini-history of the islands.

One of the finest private collections of colonial West Indies furniture in the Caribbean islands. The majority of the pieces are from Barbados and Trinidad.

One of the most prized pieces of furniture in Barbados is the familiar cellaret. Designed on a curule base or X frame, the V-shape lower drawer opens to reveal a fitted interior that holds six wine bottles.

An aerial view of St. Nicholas Abbey sugar plantation in Barbados.

The Sunbury Plantation office, where plantation business was once conducted, is filled with island-crafted mahogany furniture.