Curaçao’s historic plantation houses showcase unique architecture that resulted from the use of European, especially Dutch, building styles adapted to local tropical construction methods and available building materials. With the arrival of the oil industry at the start of the last century, the socioeconomic structure of Curaçao changed drastically in just a few decades, and only 78 of the more than 150 original plantation houses remain. Fortunately, a number of them have been preserved. Some have become magnificent residences while others have been given adaptive reuse as restaurants, boutique hotels, office spaces, museums, and art galleries.
Plantation Houses of Curaçao
is published in collaboration with the Curaçao Style Foundation, whose objective is to expand the cultural heritage of the island as widely as possible. The collaborative expertise of the writers and photographers of this volume offers a comprehensive overview, in words and images, of all the plantation houses that have been preserved as jewels of the past.