La Grivelière Plantation

Architecture - Vieux-Habitants

Living witness to the plantation economy, La Grivelière Plantation belonged in 1761 to the Jacobin friars, who called it “Caféière Saint-Joseph” (“Saint-Joseph Coffee Plantation”). After changing hands several times, the property was bought by Alexandre Auguste Périollat and named La Grivelière in 1843. This 90-hectare estate with domestic and agricultural buildings was classified as a historic monument in 1987, based on its uniqueness and the quality conservation of its buildings, all of which are essentially wooden structures dating to the early 19th century. The half-timbered master’s house, restored in 1999, affords an overview of the entire state. The interior walls and finishes are made of white mahogany. The upper story, beneath a shingled roof, was used for drying coffee. It is possible to see three slave cabins, wattle-and-daub or plank constructions covered in straw, and the overseer’s house, as well as the plantation’s kitchens. The property still contains many agricultural buildings, which were entirely restored in 2010 (various structures for drying and storing coffee and cacao harvests, a stable, a coffee processing and hulling house, etc.). Water was captured upstream in the Pagesy ravine and channeled to the planation for various uses (water wheel, master’s house, cacao shed, etc.). The property was acquired by the Conseil Régional of Guadeloupe in 1988, and has been under the management of the Verte Vallée Association since 1997. La Grivelière Plantation offers guided tours and a host’s table. In an effort to promote the local natural, historical and cultural heritage, the Verte Vallée Association has been hosting “theme days,” expert workshops, artistic presentations, and lectures for the past nine years.
Alexandre Auguste Periollat was the director of the powerful Beausoleil sugar plantation in Martinique before settling in Guadeloupe, where he acquired a number of plantations. Following the abolition of slavery in 1848, Periollat, then owner of La Grivelière, developed the annatto business, industrializing the techniques of its manufacture by designing a machine, patented in 1850, that reduced the production process to a single operation. The operation consisted of grinding the hulled seeds and reducing them to a paste, thereby saving labor. His machine consisted of four milling devices and two cast-iron cylinders that rotated horizontally, one over the other, driven by belts.