Great Houses of Havana
A Century of Cuban Style

In GREAT HOUSES OF HAVANA: A Century of Cuban Style, architect and author Hermes Mallea, a Cuban American expert in residential design, takes the reader inside the greatest residences of Havana, celebrating 100 years of creativity, design, and style. Mallea brings the reader into never before published homes to analyze their architecture & decoration - while introducing the creators and patrons who made Havana “the Paris of the Caribbean”.

For four hundred years, Havana was the center of Spanish trade in the western hemisphere. With the expansion of the sugar industry, independence from Spain & North American investment Havana became a city of great wealth, great style, and great houses.

The camera entered the Cuban house in 1862 when George Barnard documented the luxurious interiors of the Count of Santovenia’s Havana palace. In this spirit, GREAT HOUSES OF HAVANA: A Century of Cuban Style traces the evolution of the Cuban home from the classic, Spanish colonial, courtyard house to the “Tropical Modernist” villas of the 1950’s – houses reflecting international architecture trends while remaining true to the Cuban lifestyle.

Mallea takes the reader through the gates and behind the facades into buildings that have evolved from private residences into ministerial offices, diplomatic headquarters, ballet schools, museums, government guest houses or commercial enterprises – as well as many that have remained private homes.

Cuba’s social history is woven-in throughout the book. Vintage photographs illustrate Havana’s sophisticated lifestyle - the masked balls, yacht club picnics, and dynastic weddings of fashionable Cubans and their international guests. Popular cafes, hotels, theaters & weekend resorts are also featured. GREAT HOUSES OF HAVANA: A Century of Cuban Style allows the reader to experience the privileged life inside the gated mansions of the city’s grandest neighborhoods.

Among the houses – and larger than life personalities - included in GREAT HOUSES OF HAVANA: A Century of Cuban Style are:
    - The suburban chateau of a socialite/ primatologist, known as the Finca de Los Monos (the Monkey Farm).
    - Richard Neutra’s 1950’s modernist gem, now the residence of the Swiss ambassador.
    - The colonial palace of Cuba’s Spanish governors
    - An Art Deco masterpiece, designed by Parisian firms Lalique and Dominique, now a center for international exchange
    - The perfectly-preserved 1940’s bungalow of society sculptress Rita Longa
    - The residence of the United States foreign service officer, commissioned by Franklin Roosevelt to be ‘the grandest diplomatic residence in the Western Hemisphere’
    - The palace of the Roman Catholic Cardinal of Havana

© M Group 2010