St Mary, near Ocho Rios (Tower Isle)
Harmony Hall
A pimento-estate house and Methodist manse turned celebrated Jamaican art gallery.
- Built
- Late 1800s
- Economy
- Pimento
- Style
- Jamaican Georgian with Victorian gingerbread fretwork
- Today
- Arts centre / restaurant
Overview
Harmony Hall stands at Tower Isle in St Mary, a few minutes east of Ocho Rios and just over the border from St Ann. It was built in the 19th century as the main house of a small estate growing pimento (allspice) and limes, and later bananas and coconuts. For many years it served as the manse, or minister's house, of the local Methodist circuit.
One of its residents, the Rev. Hugh Sherlock, later wrote the words of Jamaica's National Anthem. In 1980 Annabella and Peter Proudlock bought and restored the house, and Harmony Hall opened as a gallery in November 1981.
It became known for promoting Jamaican art and craft, especially self-taught 'intuitive' artists, and for its seasonal craft fairs, with an Italian restaurant on the ground floor. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) declared it a national monument in 2003. Its present use and opening are not clearly documented and should be checked.
Timeline
11 dated moments in the life of Harmony Hall. Select a marker, or use the arrow keys, to read each one. Shaded bands show the wider eras of Jamaican history; dotted lines mark island-wide uprisings.
Swipe sideways to see the whole timeline, or read the full list below.
- 1858
Estate house built (approx.)
The house is built for a small pimento and lime estate; sources give the late 1850s or 1886.
- 1910
Switch to bananas
By 1910 the property is growing bananas, Jamaica's booming export crop.
- 1937
Sherlock at the manse
Rev. Hugh Sherlock lives here while serving the Methodist Ocho Rios circuit (1937–1940).
- 1938
Coconuts added
By 1938 coconuts have been added to the estate's crops.
- 1962
National Anthem
Hugh Sherlock's lyrics for 'Jamaica, Land We Love' are adopted at Independence.
- 1980
Proudlocks buy the house
Annabella and Peter Proudlock buy the house and spend about a year restoring it.
- 1981
Gallery opens
Harmony Hall opens as an art gallery in November 1981.
- 1998
Toscanini restaurant
Lella and Pierluigi Ricci begin running the Toscanini restaurant at Harmony Hall.
- 2003
National monument
The JNHT declares Harmony Hall a national monument on 3 April 2003.
- 2015
Founder dies
Annabella Proudlock dies, according to one online account.
- 2019
Gallery reported closed
One account reports that the gallery closed in 2019 and the house was later reused as a restaurant and boutique.
The story of Harmony Hall
Origins, owners and the working estate.
Harmony Hall was not one of Jamaica's great sugar estates. It began as the estate house of a small property whose main crops were pimento and limes; old barbecues, the flat stone floors used for drying pimento berries and other crops, are said to survive on the grounds. Sources disagree on the building date: the Jamaica Great Houses website gives the late 1850s, a 2003 Gleaner article and the National Library of Jamaica describe it as 19th century, and another account gives 1886. Any of these dates would place it after the end of slavery in 1838, so it reflects the era of small-scale agriculture that followed emancipation rather than the plantation slavery of earlier great houses. No owners from this early period were named in the sources consulted.
The land use changed with the island's export economy. By 1910 the property had moved into bananas, then Jamaica's leading export, and by 1938 coconuts had been added. At some point the house became the manse for the Methodist church circuit centred on Ocho Rios. The Rev. Hugh Sherlock lived here while serving that circuit from 1937 to 1940; he later wrote the lyrics of 'Jamaica, Land We Love', adopted as the National Anthem at Independence in 1962. The Gleaner reports that the Lobban family later lived in the house for nearly 50 years.
In 1980 the house was bought by Annabella Proudlock, a Welsh-born art dealer who had lived in Jamaica since the mid-1960s, and her husband Peter. They spent about a year restoring it with friends before opening it as a gallery.
Architecture
How the house was built, and what survives.
Harmony Hall is a two-storey house described by the JNHT-linked sources and the Gleaner as an example of 'Jamaican Georgian' architecture, built at a time when Victorian taste was taking hold. Its most striking feature is its decorative timber fretwork, often called gingerbread, along the eaves and verandas, together with balustrades typical of 19th-century Jamaican houses. A 2010 Jamaica Observer article mentions wrap-around balcony porches and lattice-work borders.
When the Proudlocks remodelled the building around 1980–81, they kept much of the original structure and surfaces. The designer and artist Dawn Scott worked on restoring the fretwork. The National Library of Jamaica, which holds photographs of the house, also classes it as Jamaican-Georgian. In its gallery years the fine art was shown on the upper floor, while the ground floor housed a craft shop and later the Toscanini restaurant. Detailed plans or construction materials of the building were not found in published sources, so features beyond these are not described here.
The people of Harmony Hall
Owners, enslaved Africans and their descendants, workers and keepers.
Because Harmony Hall was built after emancipation, no slave registers or compensation claims are linked to this house in the UCL Legacies of British Slavery database (LBS records other estates called Harmony Hall, in Trelawny and Vere, which are not this property). The workers who farmed pimento, limes, bananas and coconuts here after the 1850s were free labourers, though the sources consulted do not name them.
The house is best known for the people who lived and worked in it later. The Rev. Hugh Sherlock (later Sir Hugh), a Methodist minister, lived here from 1937 to 1940 and went on to write the words of Jamaica's National Anthem. The Lobban family occupied the manse for nearly half a century, according to the Gleaner.
From 1981 Annabella Proudlock ran Harmony Hall as a gallery, with her husband Peter. She aimed to raise the standard and appreciation of Jamaican art and craft, and she championed self-taught 'intuitive' painters and carvers. Artists shown over the years included Kapo (Mallica Reynolds), Albert Huie, Albert Artwell, Christopher Gonzalez, Cecil Cooper, Ras Dizzy, Gene Pearson and David Pinto. From 1998 Lella Ricci and her brother Pierluigi ran the Toscanini restaurant on the grounds. One account reports that Annabella Proudlock died in 2015.
Rev. Hugh Sherlock (later Sir Hugh)1937–1940 at Harmony Hall
Methodist minister resident at the manse
Wrote the lyrics of Jamaica's National Anthem.
Lobban familynearly 50 years (dates not given)
Long-term residents
Reported by the Gleaner as living in the manse.
Annabella Proudlockbought 1980; opened 1981
Gallery founder
Welsh-born art dealer who promoted Jamaican intuitive art.
Peter Proudlockfrom 1980
Co-owner and restorer
Restored and ran Harmony Hall with Annabella.
Dawn Scottc. 1980–81
Artist and designer
Restored the house's fretwork.
Lella and Pierluigi Riccifrom 1998
Restaurateurs
Ran the Toscanini restaurant on the grounds.
Myth and fact
Stories told about the house, checked against the documents.
The story
Harmony Hall was a big sugar plantation great house worked by enslaved people.
The record
Sources date it to the mid or late 19th century, after emancipation, on a small pimento and lime estate.
Harmony Hall today
From its opening in November 1981, Harmony Hall became one of the best-known art spaces on Jamaica's north coast. It held seasonal exhibitions, a popular Easter craft fair on the front lawn and other fairs, and it promoted more than 100 Jamaican visual artists. Travel guides praised both the gallery and the Toscanini restaurant downstairs. The JNHT judged the house to be of significant worth in April 2003, and it was declared a national monument on 3 April 2003 for its history and architecture (a 2010 newspaper gives 2002).
Its current status is unclear: one online art project reports that the gallery closed in 2019 and that the house later reopened as a restaurant and boutique, while a Gleaner tribute in October 2025 still described it as a gallery. Visitors should check its present use before travelling.
Harmony Hall is on the main north-coast road at Tower Isle, but its current use and opening are unclear; check locally before planning a visit.
Learn
For students, teachers and the curious.
Did you know?
- The man who wrote Jamaica's National Anthem once lived at Harmony Hall.
- Harmony Hall began on a small farm growing pimento, also called allspice.
- The lacy wooden trim on the house is called 'gingerbread' fretwork.
- For decades the house was famous for showing art by self-taught Jamaican artists.
- Harmony Hall was built after slavery ended, unlike many older great houses.
Test yourself
Sources
Where this account comes from. The web addresses are listed so you can check the evidence yourself.
- Jamaica Gleaner (2003) – Harmony Hall declared national monumenthttps://old.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20030629/out/out3.html
- Jamaica Gleaner (2025) – A tribute to Harmony Hall Art Househttps://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/art-leisure/20251026/tribute-harmony-hall-art-house
- Jamaica Observer (2010) – Intuitive Harmonyhttps://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2010/07/10/intuitive-harmony/
- Jamaica Great Houses – Harmony Hallhttps://jamaicagreathouses.com/harmonyhall/
- National Library of Jamaica – Harmony Hall Househttps://nljdigital.nlj.gov.jm/items/show/3265
- Jamaica Gleaner (2014) – Toscaninihttps://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20140125/news/news5.html
- Disappointed Tourist – Harmony Hall, Ocho Rioshttps://disappointedtourist.org/harmony-hall/
- Island Outpost – How one Jamaican art gallery made being an artist coolhttps://islandoutpost.com/outpostings/?p=1418
- Fiwi Roots – JNHT declared heritage siteshttps://fiwiroots.com/heritagesites.html
Historian's notes: what is uncertain
Build date conflicts: late 1850s (Jamaica Great Houses), 'late 19th century' (Gleaner 2003), 1886 (Disappointed Tourist); built_year 1886 and the 1858 timeline entry are both low confidence. Gallery founding: Proudlocks bought in 1980 (most sources), 'by 1980' (Gleaner 2025), opened November 1981 (Jamaica Observer 2010; Island Outpost says 1981). Declaration: 3 April 2003 (Jamaica Great Houses, Fiwi Roots), 4 April 2003 (Gleaner 2003), 2002 (Observer 2010).
Current status is unresolved: Disappointed Tourist (an art project) says closed 2019 and later reopened as restaurant and boutique, and that Annabella Proudlock died in 2015; neither was confirmed by a news source, and the Gleaner 2025 tribute still calls it a gallery. Parish: user's site says St Mary, and all sources agree (Tower Isle, St Mary, near the St Ann border). No LBS records apply; LBS 'Harmony Hall' estates in Trelawny and Vere are different properties. Coordinates are approximate for Tower Isle.
Nearby great houses
This profile was compiled by Jamaica Homes News from the sources listed above and checked against archival records where they were available. Legends are labelled as legends. Inclusion here does not confirm public access or opening hours. Spotted an error, or hold records about this house? Return to the Great Houses archive to explore the other houses.