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As a gift horse, Whim was a tragic
sight in 1954: weed and vine wrapped, its rotting roof gave hundreds of
fruit bats and Jack Spaniards access to sanctuary in the high reaches
while mice and centipedes dominated the floors. It was 8 long years before
anyone could say: "Whim as it now stands is beautiful to behold."
Wrestling the Greathouse from the ruins was a labor of love for residents
of all talents. William Thayer made restoration possible with his
architectural skills. Harry Neumann spent years on refinishing the
interior details and then months on his hands and knees applying coconut
oil to the old floors. Stone masons, gardeners, painters, and dozens of
other hard workers contributed time, hard
 work
and money to restore the greathouse. By 1961, when Director Cyril Marshall
was able to declare it "beautiful to behold," Whim was ready for the
furnishings and artifacts one sees today.
No original furniture from plantation days
was found at Whim greathouse when the Municipal Council arranged for it be
placed in the care of the Society. The style was known however for most of
the plantation homes still standing had antiques of their own. Most of the
antiques in Whim today were purchased from or donated by island families.
Some of the larger items were bought when the Ingvoldstad's famous
Pentheny Hotel in Christiansted closed and put its furnishings up for auction in 1962 (Ingvoldstads
sold many items at reduced prices for the Society's benefit). The
Selections Committee members were quite talented: Mrs. M. K. Armstrong
knew the island homes; Joseph Mullen, a winter resident on
St. Croix, was an Interior Decorator; Mrs. William deMott had been an antiques
dealer. Acquisitions today continue with professional appraisals by staff
or knowledgeable trustees, or by selected antiques dealers.
For its first three decades as a museum,
Whim visitors entered by the eastern doorway, one of four main entryways,
and heard about the furniture. As more information was gathered from
historical records, the emphasis was changed to give information about
owners and workers and the events of
 their
days. The Tour Guides say "We like the idea of bringing visitors in the
south door of the house rather than the front which, in the past, only the
owner or an official visitor would use." In colonial times, friends would
ride in from the avenue and around the greathouse to the stable area on
the south side, where tamarind trees could shade the horses.
Entering by the southern access today
allows the Guides to greet guests and talk about St. Croix and sugar plantations in general before they enter the main house. This
access goes into an 1890s addition to the greathouse. It was the holding
kitchen where food was kept until served and is called now the Orientation
Room. This room includes a modem cutaway model of a wind mill, authentic
rum barrels and a copy of the 1794 Oxholm map of
St. Croix showing all the plantations of that day. Along the wall are nine very
rare William Clark prints from
Antigua of the sugar cane process from land preparation to distillation
into rum, molasses and sugar. The prints were a gift of
Fairleigh Dickinson, showing work on four
different estates and one scene at Willoughby Bay, where men are loading
barrels into shallow long boats. The arduousness of the work is quite
evident. The oldest piece of furniture the Society has is here, the black
oak armchair or wainscott, a late 17th century English chair. The red oak
seat is a recent replacement.
 The office or hall features a pigeonhole desk, locally made of thibet
wood, possibly made to a Danish design. It was a gift from Mrs. Elmer
Pierson who purchased it at the Miles Merwin auction and was told the desk
originally had been in the greathouse at Hogansborg. The owner of the
estate would, among other things, do his accounts here, hold interviews
with his manager and overseers here and complete the annual census report
here. In that census he would list by name every person living at Whim,
their age, religion, work assignment, place of birth, and their conduct
rating! He didn't keep valuable documents in the desk though. For that,
there is an iron safe built into the wall of the east room, protection
against fire and hurricane damages.
Above the desk is an etching of Johanne
Tutien, an owner in the mid-19th century, whose descendants still reside
on island. On the desk are small portraits of the Danish West Indies
longest serving Governor, Peter von Scholten (1827-1848), and his
mistress, Anna Heegaard, a free-colored woman. Von Scholten proclaimed all
Danish enslaved free after a tumultuous day of bloodless rebellion on July
3, 1848. Without doubt, nearly all of the enslaved from Whim were there to
witness it. Von Scholten paid for this unauthorized proclamation with
loss of his position and a trial and condemnation in Denmark, which was
later overthrown by the higher court there. On the other wall hangs a
modem copy of a portrait of Christopher MacEvoy, Jr., who bought the estate in 1793 and transformed the
greathouse into the shape you see today. MacEvoy's young wife and two
small children had died abruptly the year previous, possibly the reason
Whim has but one bedroom. MacEvoy, a wealthy young man born on St. Croix,
not only changed the greathouse, he moved the slave quarters to the west
of it, where they are still today, and built them of stone with shingle,
not thatched, roofs. He vastly improved the estate before trading it in
1809. The crystal chandelier here in the hall is possibly Italian, bought
in New York for the room by Clayton Shoemaker of Little Princesse. A copy
of the Margrethe Cup is in the comer display. This Cup honors the first
female Queen of Denmark who reigned in her infant son's stead from
1375-1412. The next Queen to take the throne (600 years later) is her name
sake, Margrethe II who ascended in 1972. Whim was honored with a visit by
her reigning Majesty in 1976.
In the west room, the four-post bed was
owned by the much loved Danish Governor Limpricht (served 1908-1912)
 whose
wife, at her death, bequeathed it to Inger Heyn. Mrs. Heyn's daughter,
Mrs.
Chester Ingvoldstad, of Pentheny Hotel, gave the bed to Whim. Across
from the bed is a mahogany commode or "Edwardian night convenience chest"
for the chamber pot; note the little holder for one's candle. It was a
gift from Mrs. Harry Armstrong of Grange. Nearby is a 19th century bidet,
used by both men and women. A very plain 1830s armoire was probably made
in the island. The chest of five drawers made about 1830, topped with a
shaving mirror with two drawers (1840), also came from the Pentheny Hotel
sale. On top is a photograph of Governor and Mrs. Limpricht. The planter's
chair was made for Whim by Will Thurland one of St. Croix' few remaining
expert cabinetmakers. Chairs like these were very popular with the estate
owners or managers who, after a long day of riding, needed to rest their
legs awhile before their boots could be pulled off. The crystal chandelier
in this room is French. If you look out the southwest window, you can see
the bath room. Probably built by MacEvoy, whose mother was of French
descent, because the rest of Europe was not much taken up with frequent
bathing in the 18th century (where the privy was is not known).
In the sitting room the eye is taken first
with the rocking chairs, all locally made in St. Croix between 1840 and 1850, two were gifts of Victor Gilbert of Little
Princesse. The child's rocker, measuring 32 inches high, was the gift of
Suzanne Abel in memory of her mother, Mrs. Forrest Waldo. The mahogany
round pedestal table was a gift from Mrs. Keith Merrill of Sion Hill, who
also gave Whim an oil painting of the town of
Christiansted viewed from Bulowe's Minde.
This
 kind of seating arrangement was very practical. The cane seats and
backs kept one cool, and the evening lamp lit up everyone's handwork or
book without the extra heat individual lamps would create. On top of the
desk in this room (which would have been used by the lady of the house) is
a brass microscope in its mahogany case, made in
England about 1800. It has six
original slides. The piano, a Steinway, is kept in tune and used during
our Candlelight Concerts and the annual members' Christmas Party. It was a
gift of Harry Neumann and his wife Adele. The brass chandelier in this
room as well as that in the dining room came from the Lutheran Church in
Frederiksted, as a gift in memory of Frances Van Riper. Elmer Pierson paid
$1,000 at the Pentheny auction for this 1870 Danish sectional sofa, once
in a Royal Palace in Copenhagen, which had been brought out and used in
Government House until around 1936. The courting chair was a coy way of
permitting flirting and private conversations in a time when privacy was
not in fashion.
In the eastern dining room both the table
and the breakfront vie for attention. The table, in the manner of Duncan
Phyfe,
 is on two pedestals and extends to five and a half feet long. It
measures 52 inches across. It was sold to the Society in 1962 by Mrs.
Harry EWe, who said it previously had belong to the Quin Family of Company
Street in Christiansted. (Be sure to visit that building, it has been
wonderfully restored in the 1990s and houses several shops.) The huge
mahogany breakfront with five drawers and three cabinets is English, circa
1800. The Thayers of Butler Bay bought it at auction in Puerto Rico, and
shipped it as a gift to Government House in St. Croix. When it remained unused and unwanted, the Thayers arranged with Ron De
Lugo, then Administrator, to have it turned over to the Landmarks
Society.
The Danish Bing & Grondahl dinner set of 65
pieces was also a gift of the Thayers, once owned by Miss Lily Munster of
St. Croix. The Canton export blue & white china came from three donors:
Arlene Canegata, E. G. Stridiron and L. G. Kernochan. Two game tables
from the George IV period with claw feet came from the William Thayers as
well. Shown on those tables are two really unique porcelain urns with tops
given by Cornelia Ball. Made by Royal Copenhagen, one, 16 inches high, is
dated 1780 and has a scrolled map on St. Croix on one side; the other, 11 inches high, was made in 1790. These are
beautiful works, and in beautiful condition. The
Butler's desk with lockable drawers for the
family silver is a fine 18th century piece. Art work in this room includes
portraits of two Danish kings and a painting of a Duchess in 17th century
regalia. The Danish piano no longer keeps tune but in the heyday of sugar
would have been used for the lavish music and dinner parties which were
regular events in the colony. Elizabeth Delaney McDonough, born at Estate
Jealousy to Danish parents, married twice, gave birth to and raised five
children in Whim's greathouse between 1765 and 1782. It was for her
children's safety the semicircular wall was installed on the north side of
the house. She had among many fine furnishings, 18 mahogany dining chairs
and a silver wine cellaret. Presumably she could borrow more. Elizabeth
lived an opulent life. The greathouse is furnished to reflect her good
fortune.
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