Gaito

This plantation lies south of Landhuis Groot Kwartier and was traditionally known as an indigenous dwelling place, where many shell heaps were found. The Caiquetio Indians on Curaçao lived mainly from fishing.

According to Nooyen the original terrain was much larger; the former Maduro Plaza on the Dokweg was built on the grounds of Gaito, and the Dokweg is in fact part of the former border between Gaito and Koningsplein.

The plantation house of Plantage Gaito, or Vreeland, dates from 1850 and has as its characteristic feature that the core of the house has a full storey with a front terrace resting on 4 columns. The latter is also the case at landhuis Groot Kwartier, which was once owned by the same family.

In front of the house there used to be a water tank with a Gaito (weathercock), hence the name of the estate, which from 1783 was merged with Groot Kwartier and for more than a century remained in the hands of Martha Elisabeth Lamont and her family. The house and surroundings looked different around that time: there was also a threshing floor, a mangasina and several small houses of enslaved people. In 1832 cows still roamed around the stately little plantation house. Although economically one of the least important plantations, until 1959 it was one of the few still in use as a cattle farm. In modern times a bank office was housed here, and today the restored building is owned by the Adventist church denomination.