The mansions
Colonial mansions were built during the slavery era and are easy to spot on a stroll around Saint-Martin. In everyone's mind, the "colonial house" is similar to a villa, comfortable and luxurious, but the reality is often different. Many mansions are still modest dwellings, small in scale and built of chiselled wood with tin roofs. They are also very colorful and feature an outdoor gallery. They are more akin to beautiful French farmhouses than palaces. Today, most of these houses are museums. Some can be admired on the Route de l'Espérance in Grand-Case.
Creole huts, emblems of French Saint-Martin
In the streets of Marigot, Grand-Case and Philipsburg, you'll find the pride of the local population in their typical little huts, chiselled and finely decorated with intense, bright and sometimes garish colors. The case créole is a small wooden house with just two or three rooms, no larger than 3 m by 6 m, built to withstand hurricanes. It is built on a basic foundation, which insulates it from the ground, and its four-sided roof is often covered with sheet metal. In the past, the roof was made of painted wood, reeds or thatch. The windows can be fitted with palm leaves to improve air circulation and cool the rooms. With the over-exploitation of wood and the clearing of land for the development of sugar cane fields, wood resources were exhausted at the beginning of the last century: it was then possible to order kit huts imported from the USA, to be ordered from a catalog. Today, as you stroll through the streets of Saint-Martin's communes, you'll often notice that many of the facades are in a state of disrepair, the result of a succession of hurricanes in the region, and a lack of resources to maintain and refurbish dwellings. But the Creole hut is still a pleasant sight to behold, and evokes one of the island's emblematic charms.
Anti-cyclone architecture and construction standards
As surprising as it may be in regions where cyclones can pass through, the habitat in the West Indies can be very light, to the point of not being able to withstand strong gusts of wind. Just think of the dramatic consequences of Hurricane Irma, which knocked many buildings to the ground in 2017. It's therefore important for new constructions to comply with anti-cyclonic standards, with roofs featuring reduced edges to prevent uplift. Screws are also recommended instead of nails for fastening roofs. Doors and windows should also be protected with anti-cyclonic shutters. The choice of housing locations is very important. For example, avoid the seashore, which is highly exposed to wind and high tides, and favour inland locations.
In addition, a number of standards are in force to optimize construction safety and protect the coastline. The 50 pas géométriques status, inherited from the former Antilles-Guyane regime, applies to constructions located on the coast. Private individuals are prohibited from building 81.20 m from the seafront. Despite this, some houses have been built in an anarchic manner, which is why two ad hoc agencies have been set up to regularize the many unauthorized constructions.
Since 2012, the Collectivité has had competencies in local urban planning. Elected representatives are working hard to implement the town planning code, which must take into account both the French environment and the European code, taking into account the island's status as an RUP (Ultra Peripheral Region). There is a strong will on the part of the authorities to reorganize the construction sector, with a lot of work ahead, as the island is in the midst of a period of reconstruction following Irma.
Some monuments not to be missed
Built on the Fort Louis road, Marigot's Catholic church was constructed in 1941, when Father Wall took up his post in Saint-Martin and began building the monument to provide a place of worship for Catholic Christians who had none. He also had the Grand-Case church built around the same time, using the same techniques of stone and lime.
Overlooking Marigot Bay, facing Anguilla, Fort Louis was built in 1789 by the inhabitants of Marigot, at the instigation of the governor of Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, Jean Sébastien de Durat. Built to defend the warehouses in the port of Marigot, it was later abandoned and fell into disrepair. Restored in the 19th century, it was later abandoned again. Since 1993, the Hope Estate archaeological association, in close collaboration with Guadeloupe's Service militaire adapté (SMA) units, has undertaken restoration work, and the site is now the subject of cultural visits with explanatory panels.
Another not-to-be-missed site is the Hope Estate archaeological site, the remains of an Arawak village at an altitude of 80 metres, overlooking the plain of Grand-Case. The Amerindians came from South America in 550 BC and settled this circular village, leaving vestiges of engraved rocks and beautiful pottery.
