All I know about this house is that it was occupied by JDA Germond presumably during his entire tenure as Divisional Commissioner South between 1954 and 1961. The assumption would be therefore that the house was specially built for him. So far so good. But this is when the problems begin.
It seems that no one was appointed to succeed him when seemingly he retired in 1961 and left the country. Why was this particular post a one-off? If it was justified to create such a post in 1954 why was it no longer justified in 1961? But if the post was frozen, why did the British Administration - Peter Fawcus - fail to designate it for someone else use? The house, very large and very attractive as was appropriate for someone of Germond’s rank, is long abandoned. But when was it first abandoned? And by the British or by the newly independent government? The question is not frivolous because it is of some importance to know why either or both concluded that it had no use for this very fine building. For the usually parsimonious British, it would have been extraordinary to invest so much in this building, use it for just a few years and then chuck it away. But then it is similarly surprising that after 1966, the new government also appears to have had no use for it even though it was desperately short of housing not least for High Court judges.
