Marshall's Pen Great House

This impressive stone-and-timber great house, built in 1795, stands among beautifully landscaped gardens on a former coffee plantation turned cattle-breeding property on the northwest side of town. The 120-hectare property is owned by Jamaica’s leading ornithologist, Robert Sutton, and Anne Sutton, an environmental scientist. Robert can trace his ancestry to the first child born to English parents in Jamaica in 1655. The Suttons’ home has wood-paneled rooms brimming with antiques, leather-bound books, artwork and many other museum-quality pieces. You can tour the mini-museum by appointment only. Marshall’s Pen is splendid for birding: more than 100 species have been recorded here, including 25 of the 27 species endemic to Jamaica. It’s a treat to don rubber boots and binoculars and set out with the Suttons and their several dogs swarming happily at your heels. Robert is coauthor with Audrey Downer of Birds of Jamaica: A Photographic Field Guide. Visiting in early morning or late afternoon is best. To get to the property, take Oriole Close off Winston Jones Hwy, about 5km north-west of the town center (there’s a sign for ‘Somerset Quarries’ at the junction). Turn left on Nightingale Dr and then, after about 100m, right on Mike Town Rd; the estate entrance – an unmarked stone gateway – is about 400m further on the right. Take insect repellent.