Is the Berbice 100-window house haunted?

Mar 05, 2023 News

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O’ Beautiful Guyana!

Kaieteur News – There are ancient tales that the 100 windows house in Berbice, which later became 99 windows, is haunted by an old Dutch woman, Ella Fraser.

Ella Fraser lived with her husband, Dr. Hugh Fraser on the property and passed away when she was 89 years old in the front room of the building.

David Fraser, now 85, inherited the home from his parents. He was one of the couple’s six children.

The structure is more than 120 years old, completed since the early 1900’s, though construction is said to have started since the early 1800’s. It is located in the Number 19 Village, Berbice, and was designed by a French architect.

Maria Fraser, the granddaughter of David Fraser told The Waterfalls in an interview earlier this week that some believe her great grandmother’s spirit still lurks in the deteriorated structure.

Maria had the luxury of living in the house for a number of years, until the family decided to move over to a newer structure, a stone’s throw away from the house.

She said she was only four years old when her great grandmother died in the house.

“Apparently she’s one of the ghosts that lurk around in the house. She died in the front room and there are stories that people would see this white lady standing by the window as they enter our compound. She used to do that like every afternoon. She would stand there by the window; comb her hair and so on, so when she died apparently her spirit was still lurking around.”

 

Though the house is famous for its outstanding number of windows, Maria said few people are aware of the chilling side of the home.

“There are a few interesting haunted stores about the house. I mean it’s big and as a child growing up, I used to hear these little creeps and cracks and I used to feel like someone was just looking at me, it was a creepy feeling.

There are paintings in the house that looked quite scary. Imagine walking up the stairs to your room and there was a painting of a fiddler, he had this look like a vampire. Very pale, long hair, holding the fiddle and he just looks at you,” she recalled.

Some of the paintings were sold while others were donated to a heritage museum in England.

She said the house has three master bedrooms and there is also a small extra floor where the family kept a library. The lower flat of the house features the living room and dining area, an office and the kitchen. The house featured a single stairway, but this was later removed due to its condition Fraser said.

 

Maria explained that the family had over 132 staff that worked on rotation to help maintain the house.

The original owner was a Dutch man, Edgar Hickens who was an ancestor to the family.

Maria explained that though there are rumors that the plantation house was a way of showing off one’s status, the house was actually built in two parts, which took two years to be completed. “It started off as a small home and was extended it until it became this massive building that everyone calls a mansion but it definitely wasn’t built to show his wealth or status,” she said.

Maria said Edgar Hickens was the owner of vast rice and sugar plantations and also managed cattle and reared birds. David Fraser was the brother-in-law of Hickens. He purchased the section of the estate for his family after Hickens decided to put the property on sale.

As history would have it, one of the 100 windows was ordered to be blocked.

According to Maria, the order came from ex-President Forbes Burnham. “He said that only his house could have 100 windows so he sent a chopper with a few men to deliver a letter which stated that we are to close one of the windows down so we became the famous 99- windows house,” she said.

In 2006, the family handed over the house to the National Trust to make the structure a heritage museum. According to Maria, “there were a lot of interventions and stuff with the government at the time and they said they didn’t have funding to restore the house. They said it was too costly to do that so that option was flushed and the house became deteriorated over time. My granddad said it doesn’t make sense to restore it now because we already have a house and he actually wanted us to demolish it.”

Although David Fraser feels hopeless about restoring the structure, Maria said she is still exploring options to restore the building. “Heritage is very important to Guyana, especially when it comes to history as well and most of our historical buildings; they have become deteriorated so we are looking at how we can restore it.”

She said it is estimated that the house would cost around $130 million to $200 million to be restored. Maria said she is willing to speak with investors to help restore the site.

In addition to rehabilitating the famous 100-window house to allow for day tours, Maria said she plans to make it a guest home where persons can stay over if they desire to experience the ancient structure. If you would like to visit you can contact ‘Tourism Guyana’ and like the ‘99-window house- GY’ Facebook page for updates. Visitors are not allowed into the structure due to its present condition.

Growing up there

Growing up in the mansion, Maria said she never managed to count all of the windows but certainly relished in the outdoors of the property. She enjoyed looking after the animals and tending to the plants.

“Having animals around was the most interesting thing ever, because every day you tend to learn something new. My grandfather’s father, he was one of Guyana’s first veterinarians- his name was Dr. Hugh Fraser. He worked strictly with the animals at the other ranch- Dadanawa.”

She said her grandfather learned how to care for the animals from him. Maria said from the age of six-years she started learning to ride a horse and eventually tried hunting with her family. One of the things she remembered was an anaconda wrapping one of the cows and her family trying the save the animal.

Maria lived in the house with her grandfather and his wife, along with his two children and her.

 

 

 

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