Why Palladio's View?

Many houses on St John have names. Some names identify the owners. Some suggest the house's location, or history. During the several years between our purchase of the land where our house sits and the completion of construction, we considered many names, some of our own imaginings and some recommended by friends. We considered names that related to our Quaker affiliation (e.g., Friends Meeting) or location or vegitation (Calabash Hill, Tamarind Grove). Given the history of the island, we borrowed an English-Danish dictionary from a friend and searched there for a name that struck a responsive chord in that language (Venner Sammen, which means "Friends Together"). Having spent a wonderful time in Tuscany some years ago, we considered possible Italian names (Villa Portento, which means House of Wonder). We thought of incorporating Pearson in the name since Barbara's maternal grandfather, Paul M. Pearson, was the first civilian governor of the U. S. Virgin Islands, serving from 1931 to 1935. Amy, who lived in Kenya for a time, advanced some Swahili names (e.g., Kuenda Salaama, which means, roughly, "Travel in Peace"). But, though many names seemed interesting for a day or a week, we were unable to settle on one that all of us could agree upon.

During a visit while the house was under construction, our son, Morgan, who had studied architecture, observed that the design of the house, which involves three, separate clean-lined structures with arched windows connected by a columned gallery, evoked the style of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, considered by some to be the most influential architect in the history of Western architecture. It was Morgan who proposed that we name the house Palladio's View, suggesting both the house and the "down island" views that it offers. We learned about Palladio, and studied photographs of his country farm villas in the Veneto region of Italy. One of those villas - Barbaro - in particular helped us to understand Morgan's vision. We had a name.

You may have seen a brochure that describes Palladio's View. This website, the brochure, and logo were created by Amy, who is a gifted artist and graphic designer.