(Abridged from information gathered for the St. David's Island Historical Society by William S. Zuill)

Carter House is believed to be the oldest dwelling in St. David's, having survived for more than three and a half centuries largely in its original state. Recently renovated under the aegis of the St. David's Historical Society, it is now a museum which is dedicated to preserving the unique culture and history of St. David's Island, a special community that is slowly succumbing to modern development.

The house was built by the descendants of Christopher Carter, from whom it takes its name. Carter was a member of the Sea Venture crew, the flagship of the relief fleet bound for the infant colony of Virginia, which was blown off course by a fierce hurricane and wrecked on local reefs on July 28, 1609.

When, in May 1610, the survivors of this expedition set sail for Jamestown, Virginia on the Patience and Deliverance, two small sailing vessels they had built from Bermuda cedar, Carter was one of two men who deserted and stayed behind. Again, at the end of 1610, when Matthew Somers sailed for England with the body of his uncle, Sir George Somers, who died in Bermuda while on a visit to obtain food for the starving Virginians, Carter and two others remained behind. Thus it is said that Christopher Carter was one of the first inhabitants of Bermuda.

It is not known if the original building was a "wattle and daub" construction like so many of the early houses of the 1600s, but it seems likely that the excavation into the hillside which forms the cellar and foundations were a part of the first structure.

Documentary proof is lacking, but oral history has it that Martha Hayward, who owned and lived in the house with her husband John in the 1720s, was a Carter. The house was surrounded by cedar trees and palmettos from which Mrs. Hayward made useful items, and especially palmetto hats. She died in 1791 at age 114.

Since there was no church in St. David's, it was the custom to bury family members on their own property, but when the American base was established in 1940, the remains of the Carters so buried were exhumed and reinterred in the Chapel of Ease burial ground at St. David's.

Carter House has seen many changes to its surroundings since it was constructed into the hillside in the midst of acres of good planting land. In the years leading up to the Second World War, it was used as a barn by Easter lily farmer Howard Smith. The building of the US base and airfield brought an end to the farm, and soon the neighbouring hillside was crowded with coastal artillery guns brought in by the US for defence purposes. The end of the Second World War brought more changes. Under the US/British Base Agreement, civilian flights started arriving in 1946. The US Air Force was separated from the US Army and took over the base completely, turning Carter House into a beauty salon, in which guise it continued until the US Navy took over the base and decided the old cottage should have a more appropriate use. Thus it was turned into a small museum depicting the history of the base and St. David's Island, with a group of Bermudian trustees, including William S. Zuill and Joyce Hall, appointed to caretake the house. The ancient kitchen and fireplace were partially restored in the 1970s, and now it is fully restored and displayed as an 18th century kitchen.

When the US Navy left Bermuda in 1995, the Bermudian US Naval Air Station trustees did their best to find a solution to preserving this important historical building. Mrs. Hall successfully suggested that St. David's Islanders might like to take it over under the title of the St. David's Historical Society.

Under the leadership of Richard Spurling (then a UBP MP for the area) the St. David's Island Historical Society was duly established on August 4, 1998, and a long lease of Carter House from the Bermuda Land Development Company Ltd. was negotiated.

Carter House, with the financial support of the Bermuda community, has now been fully renovated. Its features include the original roof, as evidenced by the sagging roofline, and original, hand-cut beams. Buttresses brace the front of the house, while welcoming arms steps lead the visitor to the cedar front door. At the rear can be seen the original cedar gutter leading from the roof to the water tank.