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Great House Antigua, The
Saint Peter, Antigua and Barbuda · Independent · Accessible Luxury
The Great House Antigua centers on a 350-year-old plantation house on Mercers Creek Plantation in Saint Peter, Antigua and Barbuda, with an original sugar mill, historic out-houses, and a small museum preserved on the grounds. The Henderson and Howell families owned the property for more than 60 years, with Patricia Henderson and her husband buying it in the 1970s, before Gabriella Howell helped convert the last stone great house in Antigua from a family home into a boutique hotel in 2019. In 2023, Historic Hotels Worldwide recognized the Howell family with its Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year award for that long stewardship. The conversion preserved the estate’s historic character while opening it to guests as an eight-suite retreat, making it one of the only restored plantation houses in Antigua and the only one on the island open to staying guests, alongside a rare status as one of just a handful of Buff Houses in the Caribbean.
- Opened 1670
- Neighborhood: Pares
History
The Great House Antigua centers on a 350-year-old plantation house on Mercers Creek Plantation in Saint Peter, Antigua and Barbuda, and its identity is inseparable from that long colonial past. The property describes itself as a boutique hotel set in a 350-year-old house, with an original sugar mill, original out-houses, and a small museum preserved on the grounds.
The house was in private family hands for decades before becoming a hotel. In 2023, Historic Hotels Worldwide recognized the Howell family with its Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year award, noting that the Henderson and Howell families had owned the property for more than 60 years and that Patricia Henderson and her husband bought it in the 1970s. Gabriella Howell later helped convert the last stone great house in Antigua from a family home into a boutique hotel in 2019.
That conversion preserved the estate’s historic character while opening it to guests as an eight-suite retreat. The hotel’s own history material highlights the original sugar mill and surrounding gardens, and secondary profiles describe it as one of the only restored plantation houses in Antigua and the only plantation house on the island open to staying guests. It also claims a rare status in the Caribbean as one of only a handful of Buff Houses.
Today, the Great House reads less like a conventional resort than a carefully adapted historic estate: a former plantation residence with layered family stewardship, preserved dependencies, and a still-visible sugar-industry footprint. That combination explains why it has drawn attention not just as a place to stay, but as a surviving piece of Antigua and Barbuda’s colonial-era landscape.
Awards
- Historic Hotels Worldwide member
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