along the 'Avenida 51 , former Royal Calzada Calzada de los Quemados and Marianao the corner of Calle 118, 11805 house, I was always intrigued by an impressive building of considerable architectural merit but on the front clearly mutilated, which occupies almost the entire block. It 's the "Quinta de las figuras" , then renamed "Fifth Durañona" , built in 1860 by Jose Morales de los Rios on land bought in Don Ignacio Vildasola December 19, 1859, for a price of 8,412 crowns.
The house, then reported to the No 105 of the Calzada de los Quemados Real, was later mortgaged to Don José Sedano and changed ownership on several occasions in the years 1864, 1868 and 1869, when it was bought by Doña Antonia de Otamendi Durañona , resident Marianao in Calle del Rey (now 116) at a price of 14,737 pesos.
La Quinta, September 28, 1899, was inherited in Don Francisco Marcial Durañona , ricco imprenditore d’origini spagnole, proprietario sempre a Marianao del “Central (zuccherificio) Toledo”, del “Tejar Toledo”, una fabbrica di tegole, e socio dell’impresa ferroviaria “Marianao-Havana”. Il nome Toledo si deve al fatto che i Durañona erano originari di questa città della Mancha.
Alla fine della guerra d’indipendenza, nel 1898, durante l’occupazione americana, la Quinta ospitò, fino al 1901,il Quartiere Generale dell’Esercito nordamericano e la residenza del generale Fitzhugh Lee , governatore militare dell’Avana e di Pinar del Rio. Nella foto in low, in fact, taken in 1900 you may notice the American flag flying on home.
The August 22, 1906 was sold by Don Francisco Marcial to Don Manuel y Parajón Cocio , a native of Asturias, at a price of 20 thousand pesos of gold of the English brand.
Also in 1906, the fraudulent re-election of the first president, Tomas Estrada Palma , caused an insurrection and the arrival of U.S. troops that controlled Cuba until 1909. During these three years, the Fifth Durañona was the seat of government of the U.S. occupation.
On May 21, 1907, Don Manuel Parajón sold the villa to Nicolas Ruiz y Altuzarra , English resident in Havana Calle Prado No. 66, at a price of 55 thousand pesos of gold.
As of June 29, 1913, the newly elected president, Gen. Mario Garcia Menocal , became the Presidential Palace in Summer . At that time the presidency was still housed in the old Palace of the Captains General in Old Havana. It was not yet built the Presidential Palace, now the Museum of the Revolution, which was originally conceived as the seat of the provincial government in Havana, and inaugurated in 1920 by the same Menocal. In 1919
hosted the Fifth Sanatorium Centre Castellano . The building underwent some internal changes without changes to the style of the initial construction.
in 1937 was the site of events, meetings, charity evenings and solidarity with the English people during the Civil War, and January 1 of that year it was founded on May Day pro Local Committee.
Then it was home to a ' Manuals Academy of Arts, College of Men Claude Dumas and in 1943 the Normal School for Teachers Havana . In 1952, it housed on the ground floor, butcher "La Favorita" and a cheap restaurant, while the upper floors of a textile factory.
After the triumph of the Revolution hosted the Museum Marianao, the Carlos Rodriguez Heels Gareaga , while the outbuildings, the provincial company of food and equipment, at the bottom, some houses.
Since 1993, houses the Centre Prodanza of Cuba, directed by Laura Alonso, who has six ballrooms, offices, dressing room, mess room, and video recordings. The villa also houses a professional and a vocational school, attended by students from Marianao, Playa and La Lisa.
The years have permanently erased and neglect the beautiful façade of the house, beyond recognition, but not its centuries-old history.
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