Domaine de Val des Prés' (also known as the Seychelles Craft Village) is a cultural heritage site and recreated traditional Creole village in Au Cap on the island of Mahé, Seychelles.
History Domaine de Val des Prés is located at Au Cap on the site of the former St Roch Estate, where coconuts and cinnamon were cultivated and a cinnamon distillery produced essential oil for export. The main house is the last authentic traditional Creole homestead in Seychelles. It was constructed in the 1870s as a colonial plantation house, featuring a pitched roof with finials and prickets, dormer windows, garrets, a wide encircling verandah, and masonry plinths.
In 1926, Dr. John Thomas Bradley, then chief medical officer of Seychelles, gave the house to his daughter Dolly, who had married Douglas Bailey in 1920. Bailey, an employee of the Eastern Telegraph Company and a nominated member of the Legislative Council for 28 years, was a prominent Anglican supporter; the couple made generous donations to the construction of Anglican churches in Seychelles. In the 1950s Bailey purchased the nearby Saint Joseph Estate plantation house (now the Creole Institute). The Baileys furnished the house with antiques, including wicker chairs, a console table, a bureau (escritoire), and a John Brimsmeade piano; Douglas Bailey authored Flowering Plants and Ferns of Seychelles (1961) there. In 1969 the Colonial Government acquired the house and estate for R1,133,348.33.
A traditional Creole kitchen with period utensils (kokotye, lavann, kapatia, marmit) and a breadfruit tree remain on site, along with a replica of a servant's dwelling built on stone pillars with newspaper-lined walls.
The property was converted into a cultural heritage museum and inaugurated on 24 October 1988 by Minister James Michel to launch the 3rd Creole Festival. The project was financed by the United States government during the tenure of Ambassador James Byron Moran. It opened with a craft village of twelve workshops producing batiks, handicrafts, paintings, macramé, coconut oil, tea and vanilla.
Under the Seychelles Heritage Foundation (established by Act II of 2006), which was assigned management of the site along with three other heritage locations, the Domaine underwent major renovation in 2017–2018. New CEO Benjamine Rose (appointed July 2017) and a newly constituted board oversaw the replacement of the original wooden kiosks with 14 masonry structures designed by architect Brian Changty-Sing to retain a rustic timber appearance, together with landscaping using traditional Seychellois medicinal plants. The renovated site, featuring a Creole restaurant and facilities for cultural events, was re-opened on 20 April 2018 during Heritage Week, exactly thirty years after its original inauguration.
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