Chattel house is a Barbadian term for a small moveable wooden house that working class people would occupy. The term goes back to the plantation days when the home owners would buy houses designed to move from one property to another. The word "chattel" means movable property so the name was appropriate.[1] Chattel houses are set on blocks or a groundsill rather than being anchored into the ground. In addition, they are built entirely out of wood and assembled without nails. This allowed them to be disassembled (along with the blocks) and moved from place to place. This system was necessary historically because home "owners" typically did not own the land that their house was set on. Instead, their employer often owned the land. In case of a landlord tenant (or employer/employee) dispute, the house could be quickly moved to a new property.[2]
It has been customary for people in Barbados to build additions onto their chattel houses. As such, the house may look as though different sections are at slightly different heights or in a different pattern due to each part being constructed at different stages.
Modern chattel houses tend to have a greater degree of permanence, as they are often connected to the electricity mains, and may either have a permanent septic tank or be connected to a public sewer system.
- ^ Carrington, Sean; Fraser, Henry (2003). "Chattle House". A~Z of Barbados Heritage. Macmillan Caribbean. p. 43. ISBN 0-333-92068-6.
After emancipation, the slaves were still landless, since most of the land was still owned by the plantations. Through the Located Labours Act of 1840 former slaves were allowed to build their humble homes on marginally productive plantation lands, at 'peppercorn' rent, but the plantation owners reserved the right to evict tenants from these tenantries at short notice. Houses therefore had to be 'chattel', which means 'movable possession', and for this reason were built of timber, and so constructed that they could be easily dismantled in sections, moved to another spot on an ox-cart (today a truck), and reassembled in a single day, and yet be able to survive this with minimal damage.)
- ^ Chattel Houses in the Barbadian Tourism Encyclopedia