La Dauphine Estate

In Depth

There is a wonderful sense of grace and tradition about the La Dauphine Estate in the south-west of St Lucia. Set in the mountains above Soufrière, an incredibly fertile and beautiful part of the island, there is a restored plantation house dating from the late nineteenth century, all clapboard, tin roofs and eaves fringed with fretwork. La Dauphine has recently been restored to its original state while also being modernized inside to bring them in line with modern expectations of comfort. A second, more modern house has also been restored using traditional features.

La Dauphine Estate is owned by the same family that owns Villa Beach Cottages in the north of St Lucia. Please see our review of Villa Beach Cottages.

You approach La Dauphine past plantation estates with romantic names such as Rabot and Fond Doux and then turn in through white gates along a driveway with massive tropical growth either side. Eventually the Great House reveals itself. It is almost heartbreakingly pretty. It sits on higher ground among lawns and tropical bushes, a single-storey white clapboard building touched with traditional green and with a typically Caribbean red tin roof. Its eaves are frilled with gingerbread fretwork as intricate as filigree and it has a wraparound veranda with a pretty balustrade.

La Dauphine Great House was built in 1890 by a Gabriel Laffitte, a leading St Lucian of his age, as a retreat from the political work that he was involved with in Castries. The house has four bedrooms (with one full and two half bathrooms), a drawing room and a dining room with a table that seats ten. As always, there is a large veranda, which wraps three sides of the house and where much of life takes place. Part indoors and part outside, sheltered from the tropical sun and occasional downpour but leading straight off the drawing room through full height French doors, the veranda has four sets of tables and chairs, some local wooden rocking chairs and hammocks (for two) hanging between the columns.

You enter the house through a tall jalousie-style front door, and arrive straight in the living room, which, like all the rooms in the house, has a tall ‘cathedral’ ceiling. It is furnished with Morris chairs (antique wooden chairs with ‘rounded’ arms) with cushions and a sofa that are both covered in a blue and cream material with a tropical motif. There is also a desk and chair, a large original oil painting of the Pitons (at sunset) and some miniature reproductions of decorated local market straw chairs hanging on the wall. Three full height jalousie windows (screened like all windows in the house) open out onto the veranda and inside a large set of double jalousie doors opens into the dining room. Here you will find an eight-seat wooden dining table and wooden chairs with ‘antique-style’ caning on the seats. A chandelier hangs above the table and on the walls there is a large oil painting of Marigot Bay.

The kitchen can be reached from the dining room. It is long, with a ceramic tiled floor (old world pattern), a large fridge, gas stove & oven, microwave, coffeemaker, many other appliances and all the necessary cutlery, crockery, pots, pans and cooking utensils. There is a door at the end that opens to the outside and a small kitchen garden. The housekeeper Antonia Robinson can also cook for you. She cooks Creole cuisine and can prepare all meals.

Back at the entrance of the house, on the right as you come in, is the door to the master bedroom. This has a plantation style queen size four poster bed draped with white netting, a matching dresser and a tall wooden framed mirror and cupboard. On the walls are small paintings depicting plantation life in the nineteenth century (all bedrooms have similar paintings). The second bedroom is off the dining room. It has two wooden beds with mosquito nets and a wooden dresser and cupboard. Down a short corridor beyond here is the third bedroom, which has a wooden double bed and a cupboard.

Opposite the third bedroom is the utility room (iron & ironing board and another entry into the kitchen) and a large cupboard for storage. The corridor then descends a couple of steps to the two downstairs bathrooms. The first is a full bathroom with shower only and the second is a half bathroom (loo and sink only). There is a second shower outside, screened by local wooden sticks under an orange tree in the courtyard.

From the utility room some very steep stairs lead up to the attic bedroom. This room is directly under the A frame of the roof and has exposed wooden rafters (with ceiling fans). There are four wooden single beds, four Morris chairs and a half bathroom. At either end of the room are jalousie windows which open onto the lower part of the roof. Please note that there are no railings, so this room is not suitable for small children. There is, however, a fantastic view of the cocoa houses, the tropical fruit orchards and other estates in the distance from the front window and the courtyard and hills behind from the back window.

Close by, about 200 yards away and on slightly lower ground, is the second house, called Chateau Laffitte, which has two bedrooms. Built on the site of the original estate manager’s house, it is actually a modern house which has been restored with old world colonial touches including wooden jalousie shutters and gingerbread brackets on the columns in the front veranda. You enter via the veranda into the living room were there are a sofa and chairs, a wooden table with a floral display, a desk and chair and a large oil painting. There is also a separate door from the veranda into a corridor, off which is the master bedroom. It is decorated entirely in white, with a white queen-size bed, a white mosquito net, large white wooden cupboard, white dresser and white wooden chairs. The corridor leads farther on to the large (full) kitchen and then to the right the bathroom. Beyond the bathroom is the second bedroom which has two small single beds with nets, a cupboard and a dresser.

St Lucia has a very romantic history and La Dauphine is no exception. The estate was part of a larger estate of 2000 acres that was ceded to three French explorers - the Devaux brothers – in 1713, by King Louis XIV of France. La Dauphine Estate still has 75 acres under cultivation. It produces banana, cocoa, nutmeg, coconuts, citrus and decorative flowers. It is great fun to take a tour with the estate manager, Charles Augustin, who will describe how they are all cultivated and then reaped.

While the houses are very comfortable, they have been consciously restored to reflect traditional St Lucian style. The floors are original and where they needed repair they have been completely restored, down to the same creek that was there in 1890! Interestingly the position, at over a thousand feet above sea level, and the traditional design, with the louvered doors and tall ceilings, which encourage a natural flow of air, mean that the houses do not need to be air-conditioned. Do not expect television at La Dauphine. Instead you will see the graciousness of a forgotten, traditional Caribbean life.

A visit to La Dauphine makes a great combination with Villa Beach Cottages and its more modern beach-based St Lucian life (albeit with a few traditional St Lucian features).

Beach & Swimming

The two nearest beaches, both about ten minutes by car, are Malgretoute just south of Soufrière (just to the north of the Petit Piton), where there is a small curve of silvery, dark volcanic sand and some rocks, with a beach bar called Harmony's at one end (popular with the locals at the weekends), and the beach at Jalousie Plantation, a man-made white sand beach with a hotel bar. Anse Chastanet beach is located on the other side of Soufrière (about 20 minutes in all) and is known for its excellent snorkelling and diving.

Sports & Recreation

This area of St Lucia is one of two that are particularly well known and good for scuba diving and it has been designated a Marine Reserve.

If you are a hiker there are good opportunities for walking in this area of St Lucia, mainly in the rainforest inland from Soufrière. You might also consider a walk up the Petit Piton, which has become a regular trip now. There are also several mountain biking trails at Anse Chastanet.

However, the owner of La Dauphine has also developed a trail that starts right at the house itself. Nichola's Highroad is named after Nichola, a worker on the plantation who used to take his cows up to the ridge and plateau to graze at the back of the La Dauphine Great House many years ago. The trail starts from the courtyard at the back of the house. You enter through three very large wooden poles with the words Nichola's Highway carved in the cross section of the bark of a large tree. It leads through patches of anthurium lilies, passes a small stone bakery (no longer in use on the estate) and a wide variety of tropical fruit trees, then a small gorge and emerges onto the ridge of hills that can be seen from the back of the house. Here there is a plateau with many different vegetable gardens - dasheen, yams, tomatoes, lettuce etc. There is a picnic bench on the plateau to stop for a drink and rest with a very spectacular view of both the Pitons, mountain ridges, the Caribbean Sea and the surrounding countryside and plantations.

For something a little less energetic, there are spas at Anse Chastanet Hotel and at the Jalousie Hilton.

Locality

La Dauphine Estate is located within the rainforest region in the mountains to the south of Soufrière, a town where thing sae only beginning to change after centuries. There is a supermarket in town, but be aware that stocks are limited. Fresh fruit and vegetables are available from the waterfront market on Saturdays, as is freshly caught fish.

The 'drive-in' volcano is close by, and is worth a visit for the curiosity at least, and there are a couple of botanical gardens in the area, at Fond Doux in the hills and at Diamond behind Soufrière.

The nearest restaurant of note is Dasheen at Ladera Resort, about five away minutes by car, and this serves excellent contemporary Caribbean cuisine in a truly magnificent setting 1100 feet above the sea, with a view between the raging peaks of the Pitons. At Stonefield, the Mango Tree also has wonderful views. In Soufrière itself there is the Old Courthouse restaurant on the waterfront.

Useful Hints

Antonia Robinson, the housekeeper can also be the chef. In addition to daily maid service she can prepare all meals, in Creole style, on request. Guests pay extra for that service but it is very inexpensive, basically the cost of the food bought by Antonia and a tip.

While children are permitted and encouraged and will be well looked after, small children should be under supervision in case they stray onto the plantation. The attic bedroom in the main house is suitable for larger children but not for smaller ones.

Airport Meet & Greet

La Dauphine can offer a meet and greet service from both airports. If you are booking through a travel organiser, it is likely that their representative will be at the airport to meet you. This service and your return airport transfers should be included in the cost of your holiday. Please check at the time of booking.

Getting Around

A hired car is essential for a holiday in a remote location like La Dauphine Estate. You will need it to when it comes to shopping for groceries, visiting the area and if you decide to dine out at night. Reserve a car via your travel organiser or direct with Cool Breeze Jeep Rentals, who are based in nearby Soufrière, or through Drive-A-Matic Car Rentals. Ask for your vehicle to be delivered to the property approximately three hours after your scheduled time of arrival on St Lucia or the following morning. Vehicles can be returned at the airport or be collected from the property at a pre-arranged time on your departure day. Be aware that at the height of the winter season, around Christmas and New Year, and particularly over the Jazz Festival in May, hire cars may be in high demand, so you should request one long in advance.