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| Image: island*atelier |
The structure that houses this unique, waterfront restaurant and hotel was built in the 1940s by Jerome Reid on land which was bought from the Mount Standfast Plantation. Reid was a mechanic by trade and was also a great fan of Western movies. At that time it was the only garage on the West Coast of Barbados licensed to sell petrol and Reid called his business the "Lone Star of the West Coast". At first Reid operated a single pump and carried out small repairs to motor vehicles but later he formed the Leeward Bus Company which ran up and down the coast: there is a metal bus licence from 1939 framed on a wall in the restaurant. The pit that was used to repair the underside of the buses can be seen in the kitchen and is marked by Roman numerals in the wooden floor.
During the Second World War, Reid carved an air raid shelter under the garage in case he was attacked by German bombers and this coral stone cave is now one of the restaurant's storerooms. After Reid's death, his partner Ralph Winston Hurley took over the business. Hurley operated at the Lone Star and lived in the house next door until it was sold in 1996 to the present owner.
The house in which the hotel is situated was originally owned by a Miss Ellis and called Ellisville. The house was subsequently owned by Mrs Robertson of Robertson's Jams who was famous for water-skiing well into her 80s. The present owner acquired the site in late 1997 and have continued the garage theme by naming the four suites in the hotel after automobiles: Ford, Lincoln, Buick and Studebaker. Together the two buildings are now known as the Lone Star Restaurant and Hotel.
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| Images: island*atelier |
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