George Brown House is a property of interest located on a parcel of land situated at No. 6 Queen’s Park West, Port-of-Spain. The property is bounded by Queen’s Park West to the north, lot No. 6A Queen’s Park West to the south, Victoria Avenue to the east, and lot No. 7 Queen’s Park West to the west.

This house was painstakingly designed and completed by the famed Scottish architect George Brown in 1888. Brown became famous for his long list of contributions to Port-of-Spain’s architecture including Mille Fleurs, Hayes Court, Archbishop’s House, Jenny’s on the Boulevard and the now lost Queen’s Park Hotel to name a few. Brown also played an essential role in designing fire resistant structures after the devastating fire of 1895 left much of downtown Port-of-Spain in ruins. Commonly referred to as “gingerbread”, Brown’s design elements like decorative wooden fretwork, finials, crestings and cast-iron columns also permeated Trinidad and Tobago’s vernacular architecture and can still be seen today in structures great and small.

Geroge Brown House is an essential monument to the memory of this celebrated architect. It retains most of its original design elements and fits perfectly within the Queen’s Park Savannah Heritage District. The house is also connected to its original owners, the Seigert family, who invented the world-famous Angostura Aromatic Bitters. In 1985 this building became a powerful symbol for the heritage preservation movement when a group of concerned individuals saved it from demolition. The group called themselves “Citizens for Conservation” and used this incident as the catalyst to write the National Trust Act, which was passed in Parliament in 1991.

Address: 6 Queen’s Park West

Town/City: Port of Spain

Region: Port of Spain

Site Type: Cultural Heritage

Ownership: Private

Public Accessibility: Restricted Access

Cultural Community: British

Grade: Grade – 3 property in which there may be allowed (a) alterations to international non-structural components and roof cladding material; or (b) specified alterations to the internal structure.

Site Features: Residences & Great Houses