George and Lawrence Washingtonrented the house from a Captain Crofton, who was the commander of James Fort in the capital, Bridgetown. It cost them ₤15 a month, which George found too expensive. In the almost three hundred years since then, the house has served as a family home, as a rental house, a base for French prisoners, part of the British military Garrison on Barbados, again as a family home, and then as commercial offices from the 1940’s. Once it was identified as the correct Washington house, the National Trust put together a proposal for its restoration and development and presented it to the Barbados government. The Government of Barbados, convinced of the importance of the site, bought the property for the Nation from its commercial owners, and has turned it over to the Bush Hill Tourism Trust Inc. to restore and develop ( see The Restoration). The site will be open to the general public in 2007.
U.S. First lady Hillary Clinton sixth from right, joins the First Lady of Barbados, Beverly Arthur, fifth from right, and National Trust and Light & Power officials, in unveiling the plaque.
In 1997, during an official visit to Barbados with her husband, President William Clinton, Hillary Clinton unveiled a plaque outside the house that reads:
"On the occasion of his visit to Barbados this plaque was presented by President William Jefferson Clinton to The Right Honourable Owen S. Arthur Prime Minister and to the People of Barbados in a spirit of friendship and goodwill which binds our two countries and in recognition that George Washington, the first President of the United States of America, lived in this house during his visit to this fair country in 1751."
