Mahaai – Rais.cw

The name Mahaai refers to the female owner who was described in documents from 1793 as "the free negro woman Maay who owns a small plantaadje annexed to the larger plantations Zeelandie and Groot Davelaar". Together with the nearby Vriendenwijk alias Bona Vista this later became the well-known neighbourhood of Mahaai, which was so popular with rich Jewish families who wanted to live outside the city.

Vriendenwijck

The former plantaadje Bona Vista had been called Ons Tuintji or Plantagie Vriendenwijck since 1820. The name Bona Vista* was very fitting here because from the terrace you could still see 17 other landhuizen in the vicinity. Because of later building and vegetation, only Zeelandia, Girouette, Groot Davelaar and van Engelen are still visible. Because of its U-shape the plantation house has an unusual construction for a landhuis and is therefore hard to date. The oldest part is probably from before 1850, as is the U-shape, but the front façade dates from the late 19th century. Thanks to the outbuildings it has the look of a "real plantation house", but Vriendenwijck was above all a country residence. In 1888 it was still used as such by the skipper of a schooner.

Owned by a mulatta

E. van Langenfeld writes that Vriendenwijck was a country house with a modest herd of 90 sheep, 2 cows, 5 goats, 1 calf, a donkey and 20 chickens and 3 turkeys. There were often only 2 enslaved men, and the main income was obtained from the sale of drinking water, which was brought to the city in barrels by donkey. The owner of Vriendenwijck, Casper Hensle, revoked his will in 1848 and left the country estate with appurtenances, including 3 enslaved people, "for proven faithful services to the mulatta Maria Loenen". The plantation was then valued at 4,200 guilders. At the beginning of the 20th century the house was bought up and restored, as were the 19th-century horse stable for two horses and a rain tank 7 metres deep. Vriendenwijck / Bona Vista is inhabited by private persons. It lies in Mahaai on the hill, about 10 metres high, in the Djonoramarthaweg, right behind the Johan van Walbeeckschool.

Dinootje and Fransje

Djonoramartha (Djonora Martha, or Djonora Martis) lies north of Rooi Catootje and east of Francia, popularly also known as Dinootje, Noortje Berg, Dienoortje or Dienorchi. The name dates from the 17th and 18th centuries and probably comes from the first owner of the land. Both Dienoortje and Francia* were formerly regarded as bandit neighbourhoods, where no strangers were admitted and which the police avoided. Both Fransje and Dinootje were later cleared and have now made way for smart villa neighbourhoods.

*Bona Vista or Buena Vista (= beautiful view) is a name that was given in the past to various plantations on Curaçao.

*See also Francia

Photos of landhuis Bona Vista at Mahaai in 2009 are by Anita de Moulin R.I.P.