been a landmark for at least a century. A fine testament to a gentler age, the lattice and shutter structure has been admired and photographed by visitors and locals alike, as well as playing host to generations of Dills and their guests.

The present occupant of Seabright, Mrs. Margaret Dill, widow of lawyer Mr.

Thomas Newbold Dill, remembers the gazebo when she took up residence in the home as a young bride. An old photograph on a hall wall includes her late husband's grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Newbold Dill, and the gazebo.

Before the advent of working women, air conditioners, and instant tea, gazebos were commonly used as little summer houses. The lattice and shutters worked effectively to control the sun and filter the breezes, and most had built-in seating around the inner perimeter -- perfectly suited to maintain the decorum of straight backs and discourage nodding off whilst sipping tea.

In today's world, many are re-discovering the pleasures of the gazebo -- so much so, in fact, that there are even kits on the market for do-it-yourselfers and those lacking the expertise, time or money to create this charming structure from scratch.

But Mrs. Dill is definitely not one of them. Even though she jests that it will probably end up costing her "as much as a small cottage,'' the Devonshire resident has no qualms about restoring what she sees as a little bit of history.

For at least a century, the structure had endured the best and worst of North Shore weather. Temporary repairs have kept it together over the years, but finally it became so weary that not even they could help.

Where many would have hesitated, Mrs. Dill did not. She summoned professional carpenter Mr. Keith Hollis to the rescue. A perfectionist trained by a perfectionist (grandfather Mr. Rhodes Ratteray) who shares his client's love of preserving the past, Mr. Hollis set about salvaging what he could from the ravaged structure and painstakingly recreating duplicates of components which he could not.

"By the time I had finished stripping everything off, it was like a skeleton.

Now I have put the flesh back,'' he explained.

Since the skeleton was of Bermuda cedar, which had withstood the test of time perfectly, Mr. Hollis was able to use the original framework as a base on which to build the embellishments.

Patiently, he fashioned louvres around the base, lattice and shutter "walls,'' and cross-cross ventilation struts under the eaves of the roof.

Galvanised sheet metal, obtained from an air-conditioning company, was cut and shaped over the rafters before the original wooden finial was fixed firmly back in place at the apex of the roof.

Next came half-round wooden moulding atop the roof ribs to conceal the sheeting joints, and shaped trim was added to gussy up the edges of the roof.

Today, the sparkling green and white painted structure, with its perky red roof, once more stands sentinel over Seabright's traditional Bermuda garden, and the bustling traffic and moody sea beyond its boundary walls.

Again, cameras will click and admiring glances will be shot at the little gazebo whose secret has been so well preserved. For, far from sheltering tea-sipping, genteel ladies from the broiling sun in today's world, it actually conceals all the 20th century trappings needed to pump water from the well beneath its stone floor to the gracious home beyond! LABOUR OF LOVE -- Professional carpenter Mr. Keith Hollis has spent many hours painstakingly restoring the century-old gazebo at Mrs. Thomas Dill's home, Seabright, in Devonshire to its former glory. Here he puts the finishing touches to the roof.