TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE: Traditional Wooden Homes : The Timeless Charm of Yesteryear.

Trinidad and Tobago’s distinctive nineteenth-century architecture survives not only in grand mansions,but in many more modest old houses that linger in our rural landscape creating an architectural blend of the old world and the new .
Though rapidly succumbing to the ravages of time, the quaint homes of yesteryear are still very much a part of Trinidad’s landscape. The cosy atmosphere to these old homes that cannot fully be replicated in a modern structure. These homes were built by hand using local timber to provide families a form of shelter from the storms of life.
Wooden houses, made of local timber (like the one seen in the attached photo ) were raised off the ground, to protect against floods and provide ventilation, and often featured a pitched roof .
The front steps usually led to a gallery that served as a area for the family to gather on afternoons to relax and socialize with each other .In this photo the front steps lead directly to interior of the house. The use of the pillars also increased the living space by providing an “under-the-house” area in which most daily family activities occurred, and the family retreated to the upper section of the home on evenings. Home improvement was always an ongoing activity around the 1960s and 70s , and the first room to increase in size was most notably the kitchen area.
These old family homes capture the spirit of those who have been born, raised, and who ended their days within the walls. From the welcoming double-panel doors to the bygone memory of children playing between the raised pillars below, echoes of an era gone still can be heard.
What did you home looked like in the decade you were born?
Look out for Part 2 of this. (Source:  Virtual Museum of TT, June 10, 2023)
Photo taken from Angelo Bissessarsingh's Photo Album Collection.
House in Grande Rivierre ( 1970)