La Fantaisie was built c1819 in the Cottage Ornée style. The cottage was extended later in the 19th century and reworked c1900. It was built by the Hammond family and was the home of John Hammond, who was Bailiff 1858-1880. The origins of La Fantaisie can be traced in the Hammond family papers held at the Société Jersiaise, and in documents held at the Public Registry. In February 1823, John Hammond wrote from Jersey to his uncle Nicholas Hammond at St Aubin’s, Easton, Maryland to update him on family matters (SJ Library Box X3 No14). He wrote; “Since James’ last [letter], many changes have taken place in the family; we were then still together at Petite Ménage; but now we are greatly dispersed owing to two marriages – that of my brother James; the other of my brother Thomas. After James’ return from France he disposed of Petite Ménage to some advantage and now occupies a small cottage he built about 4 years ago at a small distance from Town, which he calls Fantaisie.” The evidence points to the conclusion that this ‘small cottage’ referred to by John Hammond is La Fantaisie. Fantaisie is a very unusual name for a house and it is unlikely that there would be any other properties of this name in the vicinity. We know that the site of the present house is bounded by public roads to the south and west and that it lies on Belvedere Hill. The Public Registry (124:41) records that in September 1817, James Hammond had bought an enclosed field in the same fief in St Saviour called Le Clos du Dicq, bounded to the south and west by public roads. The cottage is evident on the Elias Le Gros Map of St Helier, published in 1834. Examination of the Le Gros map shows a building on the site of the house we know as La Fantaisie – the drawn outline on that map closely corresponds to the position and form of the older part of the present house. The map also shows the extent of the original garden to La Fantaisie, which would have afforded sea views towards Greve D’Azette at that time. The garden on the south side of the cottage still exists within its granite retaining walls. The census for 1841 lists James Hammond as the head of the house at Fantaisie Cottage, Belvidere, and he is recorded in the almanacs at this address until 1860, when he is superseded in the entries by his wife. Further records show that La Fantaisie was retained by the Hammond family until almost the end of the 19th century. A Contract of Accord of August 1862 (PR 227:194) states that during his lifetime James Hammond had made a ‘memoire’ of his intentions for disposing of his property but that he died before a will could be drawn up. His widow and heirs agreed to abide by the memoire which provided the following: · the house called Fontenay (where the Merton Hotel now is) and a house or cottage built in the eastern part of Fontenay’s garden, and a little house in the north-eastern part of Fontenay’s garden, were left to his nephew Reverend James Hammond; · a house called Fantaisie was left to his brother John Hammond, as well as two little cottages bordered on the north by La Ruette Pavée and the south by Don Road. From 1864 until his death in 1880, the almanacs record that Bailiff John Hammond lived at La Fantaisie, together, for a time, with Mrs James Hammond. A portrait of Bailiff John Hammond hangs in the Royal Court. In October 1893 Captain Henry James Fairlie purchased La Fantaisie, together with gardens, outbuildings and two small houses to the south, from John Joseph Hammond, who had inherited the property from his grandfather John Hammond in 1880. Fairlie sold the property to Philippe Robin in 1899 but it was sold back to him in 1915. Before 1905 Phillipe Robin had rebuilt the two cottages which lie across the road to the south of La Fantaisie. The internal features of the earliest part of the house are consistent with an early 19th century date. This documentary and physical evidence, taken together, leaves little doubt that the property built in around 1819 by James Hammond has survived to the present day and is substantially intact. The circa 1819 cottage is single storey with garret rooms, and cellar, with strong ecclesiastical echoes in the architectural style. The walls are roughcast render with gothick details including lancet niches, quatrefoil light, arched windows with tracery and arched hood moulds. A veranda supported on cast-iron columns extends along the garden side (south side) of the cottage. Bay windows with gothick lights were added in the early-mid 19th century. There are fine early 19th century internal features to the cottage including vaulted corridors with rope ornament at the apex, a timber ‘tourelle’ stair lit by gothick borrowed lights of stained glass, and two principal reception rooms interconnected by original gothick double doors. The north porch was added in the early-mid 19th century with a medieval-inspired front door with bold studs and iron knocker, and leaded windows. The cottage has a steep hipped roof with prominent central brick chimney-stack. The roof was originally thatched but re-clad with clay tiles, decorative crest tiles and terracotta pinnacles circa 1900. The dormers were also reworked at this date. Other buildings on the site date from c1870 or later. The two-storey west (service) range was heavily reworked c1900. Merton Hotels Limited purchased La Fantaisie in 1937 and it has been in their ownership since that time. During the occupation, the Merton Hotel and La Fantaisie were utilised by German troops, the hotel being used as a hospital. The building which was added on the south-west corner of the property in 1980 is not regarded by the Minister as possessing special architectural or historical interest. The garden and containing walls at La Fantaisie are an integral part of its architectural and historical interest as the house is inseparable from its immediate curtilege, which provides its spatial setting and the physical context in which it is used and perceived. The builder or designer of the house would have conceived the house and its immediate grounds as one entity. | 
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