Estate Whim

Sugar built these islands, and Estate Whim is where the whole apparatus of it can still be seen in one place. The great house is unusual, a single-storey stone building with walls a metre thick, a dry moat around it for air and light, and no interior corridors, furnished with Danish colonial pieces. Behind it stand the works: a stone windmill tower, the animal mill that turned when the wind failed, the boiling bench where cane juice was reduced through a row of copper coppers, the cookhouse and the apothecary. It was restored by the local historical society from the 1950s and reads as a working estate rather than a decorated house, which is what makes it worth the time.

What you actually see

• The great house - thick stone walls, dry moat and Danish colonial furnishing.
• The windmill tower - the stone mill that crushed cane when the wind blew.
• The boiling bench - the row of copper coppers where juice was reduced.
• The animal mill and cookhouse - the rest of the working estate.

When to go

December to April is the comfortable season and the museum's busiest; hours are limited and it has closed on some weekdays, so check before driving out. Occasional evening and festival events open the grounds after dark, which is when the estate looks its best.

Honest expectations

Opening hours have been reduced and unpredictable in recent years, with storm and funding closures, so confirm before going. The site is compact and takes about two hours. Interpretation of the enslaved labour that ran the estate is present but uneven, and visitors should not expect a full account of it from the signage alone.

Nearby

Frederiksted and its pier are ten minutes west; the St Croix rainforest is just beyond.