Rose Hall Great House

The History

Rose Hall Great House, Jamaica is one of the most famous structures in Jamaica. It is located approximately 9.25 miles (15 km) east of Montego Bay and was built in the 1770s by George Ash. At the time the Great House was begun in 1750, it was one of more than 700 great plantation houses which controlled the slaves working the sugar plantations.

The Rose Hall Great House was named after the wife of George Ash, Rosa. Ash died in 1752 before finishing the structure. Rosa married three more times, the final marriage to John Palmer, the Custos of St. James Parish… the Parish where the Great House is located. Palmer completed the Great House in the style of a Georgian Mansion.

The house has a plastered upper story and a stone lower level. Its position set high on a hill overlooking the coast makes Rose Hall Great House a commanding presence literally as well as figuratively. It boasts silk wallpapers, European antiques, chandeliers, mahogany floors, paneling and wooden ceilings. A bar and restaurant are found downstairs at the Great House.