This view shows the plantation house on a flat ridge of land with the man-made stepped river and waterfall on the right which was used to transport the sugar cane. Two enslaved Black men are depicted in the left foreground. In the background, the hills are stripped of their former thick tropical rainforest which was cut down to grow sugar, coffee and cocoa.

The wide veranda with its ‘Chinese Chippendale’ style balustrade, provided a cooler place to walk and sit for Penelope, Ninian, and their friends. At Paxton House there was a similar balustrade at the back of the kitchen wing attached to stone steps leading to and from the first floor which was removed during the restoration in c.1990, but it survives in storage.

This painting was conserved in 2022 with a grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund.