The decision to revoke listed protection for an 18th century merchant house due to “no on-site parking” has come into question after it emerged the property was given planning permission for a driveway.

Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield de-listed the ‘Queen of the East’ after the owner’s agent said the property could no longer attract tenants due to lack of parking space.

However, the Planning Department approved a planning application for a driveway in January last year. The proposal, by the Shipside Trust, was for a sloping area on the east side of the house to provide enough space for two vehicles. The decision to de-list the ‘Queen of the East’, at 26 Crow Lane, comes during Heritage Month and has led some conservationists to call for Ms Butterfield’s resignation.

Yesterday The Royal Gazette discovered that a neighbouring building — ‘East Broadway Marine’ at 22 Crow Lane, was also de-listed by the Government, in July, 2003.

The Grade Three 18th century house is the sister building to ‘Queen of the East’ — both were built by George Darrell, son of a Chief Justice of Bermuda. It was demolished to make way for ‘Windward Place’ — a five-storey office complex, following a planning application by the Paragon Trust in January, 2004.

Another property in the same lane, the old Island Coffee building, was also razed to make way for the Renaissance Re offices.

Situated in an area of prime real estate, conservationists fear the ‘Queen of the East’ will now face the bulldozer.

Andrew Trimingham, former chairman of the Historic Buildings Advisory Committee, said yesterday: “There’s no possible reason for de-listing this building. There was no problem to have the building rented out as they could have shared a road with the neighbours. You can also get a vehicle down along the waterfront.

“How much parking space do you need for a single occupant with one car? What’s going to happen now is that an office building will go up and then you will get space for ten to twelve cars there. This is all about money and I am willing to bet that the place will be torn down very quickly.”

The ‘Queen of the East’, which features a waterfront warehouse, was built in the 1740s and was given Grade One listed status five years ago.

The Government has cited “state of decay” as one of the reasons to remove its protected status. However, Dorcas Roberts, National Trust environmental conservation officer, said the Trust had “repeatedly offered help and advice to the owners of this building to prevent its ongoing deterioration”.

Margaret Lloyd, a former member of the Historic Buildings Advisory Committee, also stressed this in a letter to Ms Butterfield. Describing the ‘Queen of the East’ as “one of the very best examples of Bermuda’s architectural heritage”, Mrs. Lloyd said: “When I was on the Historic Buildings Advisory Committee the owners were contacted at least once by Planning and made to do some minimum cleaning up.

“Why didn’t the Department staff follow up on that? They have the power to do so. And, even if they failed, why did your Ministry allow Planning’s laxness to be used as an excuse for de-listing? I know that the Bermuda National Trust has several times contacted them (the owners) about it and I am 99 percent certain that if the family had given or sold it cheaply to the Trust there would have been so much financial support from the public that it could have been restored to be a first-class dwelling, attractive to many people, with or without parking.”

A Government spokesman said Ms Butterfield acted on a request by the owner’s agent and had consulted the Historic Buildings Advisory Committee, which was split between those wanting to retain the listing and those who had no objection to its removal.

He said: “The building had functioned as rental accommodations, but with no vehicular access to the site, no on-site parking, and potential tenants having to cross East Broadway from the only available parking, the property became impossible to rent. As a result, the condition of the property deteriorated to its present state of decay.

“The owner’s agent argued that the property had become an eyesore at the entrance to our Capital city. There was also concern that the property could be subject to greater levels of vandalism which would only make the problem worse.”

However, the Planning Department’s file of listed buildings describes the ‘Queen of the East’ as “outstanding example of an 18th century merchant’s house” and “a very important landmark on the main road into Hamilton and on Hamilton Harbour”.

Yesterday, the owner’s agents, architects Conyers and Associates, refused to comment.

A Planning Department employee said: “There are no applications submitted for this property as yet. The last time a planning application was made was in 2005 for a driveway.”

Environment Minister Ms Butterfield was unavailable for comment yesterday.

The deterioration of the ‘Queen of the East’ is particularly tragic in light of its former standing as “one of the showplaces of Bermuda”.

The house served as a bakery in the 19th century and as a laundry and brothel at the turn of the 20th century. It was later a Soldiers and Sailors Club before being purchased by architect Bayfield Clark and his wife, an interior designer, in 1938. The couple renovated the building to such “great skill and taste” that it featured in several US magazines. One journalist, Margot Hill, described it as “one of the most attractive and habitable homes in Bermuda”.

* What do you think? Are you a former resident of the ‘Queen of the East’? Email us at: new>[AT]royalgazette.bm