the United States Consul General, seems to be sealed. The United States State Department has decided to sell the grand house with its 14 acres of land, its cottages and its rights to the western end of Grape Bay.

Chelston is one of the most beautiful properties in Bermuda and close to Hamilton. It has style and class.

It appears that the State Department hopes to make some money on selling Chelston and also hopes to avoid the expense of the upkeep of the extensive lawns and gardens.

Chelston has been an ideal house for a Consul General to live in and to entertain both in terms of its central location and the size of its rooms and lawns. As the representative in Bermuda of the United States, a Consul General has to entertain a good deal and also has to accommodate any number of visiting officials and dignitaries. In recent years those have included President George Bush, Sen. Edward Kennedy, Mrs. Michael Dukakis and a host of others, not all American.

It may be that the State Department misunderstands how top real estate works in Bermuda. Even if it makes money on Chelston it will have to pay millions for a replacement house which will have nothing like the location or the facilities or the stature of Chelston. Indeed the decision seems to be built on misguided economy. Most United States citizens who live here or visit like the idea that the representative of their country has a prestigious house.

That is as it should be for the leading country in the world.

It is our understanding that the US Government was given the house by the estate of the late C.P. Dubbs, perhaps in part payment for taxes. They had made money by selling Donaghmore in Tucker's Town, another large and expensive home where Consuls General had lived.

Once before, when the Consul General was moved from Tucker's Town to a much smaller house in Fairylands, there was an outcry from Americans living in Bermuda who felt their government was letting down the side. Then came Chelston -- and the complaining stopped. It would be a tragedy for Bermuda if it ever fell to a developer. If there is any move to break up Chelston there will be a great many angry Bermudian environmentalists, most of whom have learned their concern for the environment in the United States at boarding school or college.

Premier Pamela Gordon is on record as saying her government is very much against the sale of Chelston. It is not, of course, Bermuda's decision to make but it would be a friendly gesture toward Bermuda if the United States, which has already closed its bases in Bermuda, were to leave its official residence as it is now.