Groot Davelaar

The most beautiful hofje (garden estate) in the so-called Ruiterkwartier* once lay between Groot Davelaar and the more easterly plantation Zuikertuintje. Both plantations in fact formed one whole from 1888 to 1936 and were only separated from each other by the construction of the Schottegatweg in 1931. J. van Ditzhuijzen tells in the book Landhuizen van Curaçao that both plantations were owned by Mozes Marchena until 1906 and after that by the Winkel family.

At the time of the conquest of Curaçao by the Dutch, the commander's or cornet's garden (commandeurs- of cornettuintje) thus lay here, with various orchards including beautiful medlar and mango trees. It was, however, repeatedly plundered by soldiers who were stationed nearby. That led to an official proclamation on 10 March 1636 in which the death penalty was introduced for stealing fruit from the hofjes at Zuikertuintje and at Zuurzak.

Guzman Blanco

According to M. Ozinga, the first plantation house of Groot Davelaar was built in 1864 and 1867 and had a remarkable resident: the political refugee General Antonio Guzman Blanco, who settled on Curaçao around 1869 together with his father and a few supporters.

That led to a political debacle: Venezuela asked for the extradition of the "traitor to the country" and, despite counter-petitions from local businessmen, Governor de Rouville followed the order of the Dutch government to expel Guzman. When the latter later came to power after all, he took revenge by levying 30% import duties on all products coming from Curaçao, which was not only an enormous setback for local commerce but also discredited the good name of the island. In modern times Nicolas Maduro followed similar tactics by, among other things, forbidding the fruit boats from sailing to Curaçao any longer.

Antoine Martis

Antoine Martis, from 1867 an overseer at what is now the Public Works Department, later left for the Netherlands to complete his studies as an architect. He became one of the first local architects, had an extravagant style and in 1873 received the commission to design a plantation house. That became the — new — landhuis Groot Davelaar, which with its octagonal shape deviates completely from the usual plantation houses on Curaçao. The client was Juan Ricardo Blanco, a Venezuelan refugee who lived here with his daughter, had often travelled through Europe and sometimes wanted something different from the plantation house that already stood on Groot Davelaar.

The octagonal house combines certain customary features of the traditional plantation house with neoclassical, i.e. Renaissance, influences. The front is actually on the west side, but nowadays the east side, with two stately staircases, is used as the front and entrance. It is probably the last plantation house that was built on Curaçao and was at first painted yellow, the traditional colour of the Curaçao plantation house. Under the house there is a rain tank, and the attic was once used for storing maize.

Other buildings designed by Antoine Martis are the military hospital at Plantersrust and the former Hendrikschool and the Wilhelminaschool in the city. In 1894 Martis died a tragic death by drowning while swimming at the Klip in the Sint Anna Bay.

Vegetable garden

In contrast to the other plantaadjes in the Ruiterkwartier, Groot Davelaar was not sold often. According to E. Langenfeld the few archive documents speak of "the estate Welgelegen with the plantation house Groot Davelaar standing on it", so called after a former owner Cornelis van Groot Davelaar, who laid out the plantation in 1732. He was a merchant who lived in the city, as did Moses Abraham Jesurun, who bought the plantaadje in 1828. At the weekend he lived at the country residence, where he set up a small cattle business and also sold many vegetables such as radishes, asparagus, pumpkins, calabash and okra, fruit from his own garden and drinking water from the wells that stood on the grounds. Jesurun also owned a ship, The Enterprise, which he could easily supply with fresh fruit, vegetables and drinking water from his own garden.

Wedding gift

A new owner of Groot Davelaar was the dentist and widower Jacob van Isaac Senior, who on 18 June 1877 bought the plantation house for 27,000 guilders as a surprise for his young bride and second wife Sarah de Haim Daniel Lopez Penha.

From 1956 the surroundings changed drastically: the Groot Davelaar road was built, modern houses appeared and, on the spot where the Promenade shopping centre now stands, there was a tile factory. The part of the Schottegat that reached up to behind the plantation house was filled in and the Antilliaanse Verffabriek (Antillean Paint Factory) was built here, with next to it an enormous open-air drive-in cinema that residents of the house could watch for free, though they had to do without the sound.

Maternity clinic

The MTS school and the Groot Davelaar Clinic, which was later taken over by the Adventist church denomination, were also built on the Groot Davelaarweg. At the front of the building a mosaic image of two mothers with their babies can still be seen, in memory of the fact that the hospital was opened as a maternity clinic in March 1929. The artwork was made in 1960 by Lucila Engels-Boskaljon and restored after tropical storm Thomas in 2012 by Eileen Kaesberry and Liesbeth van der Voort.

As a neighbour of the hospital, the Country Inn Hotel came in 1968, which was taken over by the government in 1976 and has been in private hands again since 1991 and is operated as the Trupial Inn hotel.

In the 1970s the plantation house was renovated, with the upper floor used as a residence and the gourmet restaurant De Taveerne housed on the ground floor.

Protected monument

The plantation house of Groot Davelaar was designated a protected monument in 1996, together with Zeelandia and Vredenberg. They are the first monuments outside the city area to qualify for this nomination. As a result of this designation the owners can apply for a subsidy to renovate the monument according to the applicable rules or to keep it in its original state.

The present plantation house of Groot Davelaar was restored in 1994, among other times, but has retained its original form for 120 years; only a large rain tank was added. The house now accommodates, among others, the CDC (College of the Dutch Caribbean) and the UDC (University of the Dutch Caribbean).

Klein Davelaar

In the south-east of Groot Davelaar there was also a garden of the Davelaar family. According to the description of its location it lay north of Chobolobo, east of Zeelandia and west of Girouette and Goede Hoop, or Popo. The accompanying little plantation house stood on the site of the present head office of Banco di Caribe.

The estate was bought in 1792 by Cornelis van Groot Davelaar, grandson of the founder of plantation Groot Davelaar. He expanded his estate by buying a few adjoining lands and called his new possession Rust en Vrede. This name — which, by the way, was also used for various other plantations — disappeared quietly because the estate was called Klein Davelaar or Daflá Chiki in popular speech, and it continued to exist under that name.

In 1783 another grandson bought another plantation near Klein Davelaar. In 1791 this plantaadje was owned by Jan Hendrik Specht, a good family friend of the Van Groot Davelaar family. The Spechts had traditionally been large landowners at Kooral Specht and surroundings, including the small plantation Labadera or Wasch Thuyn. The name Wasch Thuyn (Wash Garden) also appears in history as an alias for Klein Davelaar.

*See also the Ruiterkwartier and Zuikertuintje