Answering the Number One Question Visitors Ask About Bermuda
There is no more recognizable symbol of Bermuda than its white-stepped limestone roofs. Described by Mark Twain as “the whitest white you can conceive of” these roofs were not designed simply for beauty – they are actually a brilliant engineering solution dating back to the early 1600s.
When Bermuda was first settled, colonists built simple shelters using native Bermuda cedar and thatched palmetto leaves. Unfortunately, these early structures proved vulnerable to hurricanes and tropical storms. At the same time, settlers faced another challenge: Bermuda had no rivers, lakes, or streams to provide a reliable source of fresh water.
The solution was ingenious. If water could not be obtained from the ground, it would have to be collected from the sky.
Fortunately, Bermuda’s abundant limestone provided the answer!
Limestone blocks could be cut directly from the ground while still relatively soft and then sliced into thin slabs and carefully laid in overlapping tiers, creating the distinctive stepped design that remains a hallmark of Bermuda vernacular architecture.
The roofs were then coated with a white lime wash which helped keep the roof clean and acted as a natural rainwater purifier. Today, modern non-toxic and environmentally friendly acrylic coatings have replaced traditional lime wash but the roofs still maintain their iconic white appearance.
As rain falls, it flows down the stepped roof into gutters and downpipes before being directed into storage tanks where they continue to provide a vital supply of fresh water.
Long before the term “green engineering” was ever coined, Bermuda had already perfected a sustainable water-harvesting system. For more than four centuries, the island’s iconic white roofs have served as both a practical necessity and an enduring symbol of Bermuda’s ingenuity.