El Castillo House Spanish Colonial Revival-style
Description
Side view of a Spanish Colonial Revival-style house located in the town of Barranquitas. The dwelling is made of concrete and the roof, that is covered with roofing tiles, is gabled. On the first level, the residence has a garden and plants in decorative pots. To the far left there is an open space sustained by columns. A double wooden door with glass and a window covered with ornamental metallic bars can be seen. In addition, there are two semicircular arches sustained by a column, under which there are stairs covered with native slabs. To the far right, there is a balconet surrounded by an ornamental metallic bar railing. There is a double door in wood and glass, surrounded by moldings there. On the second level, there are double windows in wood and glass, over which there is an eave covered with roofing tiles and sustained by wooden brackets. To the far right, it has a larger balcony surrounded by a wooden railing and sustained by thin columns of the same composition. The balcony is sustained by wooden brackets and there is an eave covered with roofing tiles. Under the balcony there are two different sized windows covered with ornamental metallic grilles. At the top, a smaller attic with a roofless balcony, sustained by ornamental metallic brackets; which has an ornamental metallic bar railing is visible. There are two double doors in wood and glass, over which there are small eaves.| Origin Name |
CAJ_0241_F0001_R
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| Relation |
Archivo de Arquitectura y Construcción de la Universidad de Puerto Rico > Colección Carol F. Jopling > Album fotos a color
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| Geographical Coverage |
Barranquitas
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| Date |
1979
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| Descriptive Notes |
The title, date, and address were provided by the Architecture and Construction Archive of the University of Puerto Rico (AACUPR). The file provided by the archive clarifies the following information: "Fotógrafo: Carol F. Jopling, estudiantes de arquitectura o Earth Watch Volunteers". On the back of the image, there are handwritten notes that read: "23CAJ|0241|F0001". On the back of the image, there is a stamp that reads: "Print made by KODAK Oct 79". There are repeated photos of the same houses among the files of this collection because they document different photographic formats created for the research project led by Carol F. Jopling, which were taken on different instances in which they were visited (example: 35mm negatives, color, black and white, instant photography, photos that were brightened or with contrast).
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| Descripción decolonial |
The house is a registered historical site, known as “El Cortijo” (the farmhouse). Spanish businessman Secundio Lozana and his wife Josefina Fabián had it built in the rural town of Barranquitas in 1938. They hired famed architect Rafael Carmoega Morales to design the home in a Spanish Revival style. This was one of many buildings Carmoega created in that style during the period, including the United States-led project to build El Capitolio in San Juan. The United States government encouraged architects like Carmoega to use the Spanish Revival (or Mission) style for official architecture, which they ironically imported from California. Many scholars have argued that the Mission Style served as a means of expressing neo-colonial power in the ex-Spanish colony of Puerto Rico, now newly integrated into the United States insular empire after 1898. Here, it works to express a similar concept of land tenure by foreign powers in the capitalist context of Puerto Rico in the 1930s. El Cortijo may literally be haunted by that past. Local lore has it that the ghost of an angry servant stalks the house’s aging halls, which is why no one has ever lived there for long.
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| Historical Background | |
| Architectural Subject |
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| Decolonial Subject | |
| Rights |
English Rights. (hyperlink)
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| Editor |
Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín
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| Resource Format |
JPEG
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| Resource Type |
Image
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