Castillo Serralles ….. Ponce, Puerto Rico!!

Castillo Serrallés Museum …. aerial view!! 

Castillo Serrallés is a mansion located in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, overlooking the downtown area. It was built during the 1930s for Juan Eugenio Serrallés, son of businessman Juan Serrallés, founder of Destilería Serrallés.

 

 

 

 

Location of Castillo Serrallés in Puerto Rico
Location	Ponce, Puerto Rico
Area	2.5-acre (1.0 ha)
Built	1930
Architect	Pedro Adolfo de Castro
Architectural style	Spanish Colonial Revival
Governing body	Private
NRHP Reference #	80004494
Added to NRHP	November 3, 1980

 

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  Built in the 1930s, the Serrallés mansion sits atop Vigía Mountain with commanding views of the city. It was designed in a Spanish revival style, incorporating Moorish and Spanish architectural elements including stucco walls, clay tile roofs and terracotta ornamentation.
  Today, the “castle” stands as an iconic Ponce cultural attraction, a stop on the Ponce Tourist Trolley and a must-visit destination for anyone visiting the city.
   
   
  
   
   
  Ask many a Puerto Rican what their favorite rum is and they won’t hesitate to answer Don Q. It might not have the global brand name of Bacardi, but Don Q is no slouch when it comes to quality and flavor. It’s also, unlike Bacardi, a purely home-grown product … and it all starts with the Serrallés family.

  A visit to Castillo Serrallés in the charming city of Ponce is a trip through the life and times of Puerto Rico’s most well-known rum barons. 

  

  A tour of the castle gives you a wonderful and authentic glimpse at Puerto Rican high society during the island’s sugar boom, when the rum barons lived in lavish style. The Serrallés family were originally in the sugar cane business before they switched to rum.

  

  The furniture at Castillo Serrallés is from the “High Period.”

  The Serrallés family lived here from the 1930s to 1979. A group of private citizens now manage and maintain it as a cultural treasure. This mansion is meticulously maintained, and all original.

  Begin your tour of the house with a short film, and then check out the rooms on the ground floor: you’ll visit the interior patio (a typical feature of Spanish homes), the richly appointed dining room, the library and music room.

  

  Among the noteworthy features of the house are a depiction of the Serrallés family tree, an intact and functioning Otis elevator dating from 1924 (a true luxury at the time), and an exhibit dedicated to the history of the sugar industry on the island.

  

  The Serrallés mansion was built as the exclusive residence of Don Juan Eugenio Serrallés, a leader in the sugar cane industry during the early part of the 20th century. The building is significant from both the architectural and historical perspectives.

  Architecturally, the building represents an example of Spanish Moroccan architecture, the style first introduced in Puerto Rico by the architect Pedro Adolfo de Castro. Three examples of this style of architecture were: El Castillo de Valdes in Mayagüez, el Castillo de Mario Mercado Montalvo in Guayanilla, and el Castillo de Serrallés. In the 1920s, other similar mansions were built in Puerto Rico, but Castillo Serrallés is the best preserved. Historically, the building is a reminder of the cultural and economic changes that southern Puerto Rico experienced in the 1920s. “Ponce’s dependence on the sugar cane industry at the close of the nineteenth century, created an atmosphere of development from which evolved a series of intrinsic cultural characteristics and afforded great wealth to many families involved in the industry. The wealthy families generally chose Europe as the model for the direction that cultural endeavors would take.”
  

  According to the Puerto Rico State Historic Preservation Office, “European fashions and lifestyles were usually preferred in this part of the Island…The result of [the] intense cultural interest [of the time] provided work for artists, artisans, and architects whose creations tended to strengthen the image of the ethnic identity…Even though El Castillo Serralles is not based on an indigenous design, its architectural significance lies in the fact that is was designed to adapt well with Caribbean climatic conditions. Its workmanship, its interior decorations, its furniture, and even its floor plan, reflect the cultural attitudes of the times”.

  

  If the castle projects a life of comfort and opulence, the gardens at Castillo Serrallés offer an enviable, serene and picturesque sanctuary. Cascading down the hill, the beautiful landscaping, bright flora and majestic pool would look more at home in France than Puerto Rico.

  

  Good source: http://places.eyetour.com/whatToSee/ponce/65/museo-castillo-serralles

  SPANISH VERSION

  Castillo Serralles, Ponce, P.R.

   

  We ALL are ONE!! We ALL are united by HISTORY!!!