house seen from trunk bay overlook.

deejayjay · Post by **deejayjay** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:53 pm

I searched the forum for the answer to this, but I cannot find the answer. As you look at trunk bay from the overlook. There is a building on the far side of the bay.(If you were standing on the beach at trunk bay facing the water, it would be on the right.) Just curious, is this someones home, a villa, a ruin, . . .? It sure would be a great villa location.

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 5:09 pm

It's owned by the National Park. Once of their rangers lives there. I know this because I was curious and asked the same question a couple of years ago!

Bug · Post by **Bug** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:59 pm

When I was at Trunk last year I asked one of the life guards what it was and he told me that it was houseing for the employees of the Natl' Park. He told me that any employee can put in a request to live there and that it houses multiple people. I would love to be a park employee with living quarters there!!

I guess the stories are close but isn't it funny on how the answers change from one person to another

XOXO
Bug

steve · Post by **steve** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:06 pm

the house was the birth place of the Boulon family. The family owned all of the trunk bay and they gave it to the park service. They have homes around the point. They are well known on the island and do a lot of work with artists and for the preservation of the island and park.
not a bad back yard to grow up in....
Steve

hugo · Post by **hugo** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:47 pm

steve wrote:the house was the birth place of the Boulon family. The family owned all of the trunk bay and they gave it to the park service. They have homes around the point. They are well known on the island and do a lot of work with artists and for the preservation of the island and park.
not a bad back yard to grow up in....
Steve

Today's St. John History Lesson:
This house is the only remaining building from the Trunk Bay Estate Guest House, a complex of several buildings on the point owned and operated by the Boulon family from 1946 to 1959 (they had lived in Puerto Rico and used Trunk Bay as their summer home since the late 1920's). The guest house was run by Erva Boulon and her children, and was as legendary for Erva's superb cooking as it was for its serene and very remote location (not to mention certain scenic attractions).
The Boulons sold the 100 acre estate to the park --although the price might seem like a give-away now, it was pretty good at the time-- and kept a hide-away at Windswept beach, the hidden beach around the corner as you go toward Peter Bay. Erva moved over to Maho Bay with a new husband, and built another small guest house called "Lille Maho" next to the present Maho Campground, which she operated through the 1960's.
The Park used the Guest House's main building as the Trunk Restaurant /Gift shop until the late 1960's __ a memorable lunch spot with a huge open veranda located above the area of the remaining building. The Park claimed the Main House was structurally unsound, and demolished it soon thereafter, but there were always suspicions that too many tourists had complained about having to hike a couple of hundred feet up the hill for their hamburgers....
One of Erva Boulon's grandchildren is now Resource Manager for the VI National Park, other grandchildren and great-grandchildren come and go from the island. You can read more about Erva in her own words in "St. John Backtime", and more about the family in " St. John People" --two books that anyone with a real interest in the island should certainly read!

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 9:44 am

Thanks for the history lesson, Hugo! Very interesting.

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:01 am

Two of my favorite books about STJ are StJ Backtime and STJ People. These are a great read for anyone interested in STJ history and the interesting characters who live(d) there.

My next book purchase is from Mr. Guy Benjamin and his "My Beloved Virgin."

I want to buy one from him personally this December and ask him to sign it.

I have long admired his work for the children and people of STJ and I just have been too shy to knock on his door.

This is really saying something because I meet and talk with elected officials, Senators, Congressmen and women, state secretaries, governors and lt. governors on a fairly regular basis and have never once felt the least bit shy!!!

But this December I'm going to work up the nerve!!

Thanks for the history lesson Hugo!! I love this kind of stuff!

deejayjay · Post by **deejayjay** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:34 am

Thank you so much for all your info. I wonder if you could snorkle around the R end of trunk bay and get to that hidden beach?

parafins · Post by **parafins** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:44 am

I have a National Geographic magazine from 1968.There's a pic from the Trunk Bay overlook showing 2 or 3 homes in the background.The picture was taken in December of 1967.It's interesting to know the history of the former buildings.Parafins

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:54 am

I LOVE finding old photos and articles about STJ. It's amazing to see how different everything is. In some cases almost unrecognizable!

hugo · Post by **hugo** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:08 pm

Grommit, I don't think you should feel at all shy about visiting Guy Benjamin, he really does welcome anyone who comes to his door. What you should feel is hurried to get there---he's 93 and getting more ethereal, preparing for his angelic existence to come...

cptnkirk · Post by **cptnkirk** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:38 pm

deejayjay you can snorkel on around the bend and hit the beach. First you will see a shelter house then a house back off the beach. I saw the McMansion at Peterbay before I knew what it was from that beach. It was in the building stage at that point and remember going back and telling my wife there was a ruins of a castle around the bend. It felt like I was tresspassing on that beach when I was walking on it but I didn't see any signs to stay out.

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