Palatial Residence at "El Vigia", Ponce, P. R.

Palatial Residence at "El Vigia", Ponce, P. R.

Mansions
Mansion
Residences (dwellings)
Residence (dwelling)

Puerto Rico has many beautiful modern residences. This view shows a palatial home located on a small hill called "El Vigía" back of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico and overlooking the entire city with the Caribbean Sea in the distance.

"The Serralles mansion was built as the exclusive residence of Don. Eugenic Serralles, a leader in the sugar cane industry during the early part of this century. It repesents an example of Spanish Morrocan architecture, the style first introduced in Puerto Rico by the architect Pedro Adolfo de Castro. The three good examples of this style of architecture were: El Castillo de Valdes in Mayaguez, (destroyed several years ago); el Castillo de Mario Mercado in Guayanilla, ( in ruins and vandalized beyond any possible means of reconstruction), and El Castillo de Serralles. Since its disoccupancy in 1956, the Serralles mansion has been maintained in very good condition and quite fortunately retains its architectural integrity and feeling. Alterations to the structure have been of such minor proportions that to restore the original effect could be accomplished with a minimum of effort and expense. The grounds, however, have suffered from lack of care. Weeds overrun the entire area, small trees and bushes have beenallowed to grow wild and as a result have obscured the intention of the land scaping plan. Restoration in this case would require a great deal of cleaning, perhaps an even greater measure of design consideration and certainly research into the original scheme to bring the estate up to its original and immaculate appearance. Local Historical significance of the building is equal to, if not greater, than its architectural significance, Ponce's dependance on the sugar cane industry at the close of the nineteenth century, created an atmosphere of development from which evolved a series of intrinsic cultural characteristics and afforded great wealth to many families involved in the industry. The wealthy families generally chose Europe as the model for the direction that cultural endeavors would take". --Description from United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National, Register of Historic Places, Castillo de Serrallés.

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University of Puerto Rico (Río Piedras Campus). School of Architecture Library.

2022-02-28

© Copyright 2018. University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, School of Architecture Library, All Rights Reserved.

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Ponce, Puerto Rico

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