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Palacio
O'Farrill
Hotel,
located on a
corner near
the
picturesque
Bay of
Havana and
Cathedral
Square, is a
perfect
example of
neoclassical
architecture,
in vogue at
the dawn of
the 19th
century.
This
mansion,
awarded a
Class 1
Heritage
Degree, has
recently
been
extensively
restored and
refurbished
by the City
Historian's
Office. It
is a Palace
converted
into a
Hotel: an
authentic
corner of
Old Havana
that prides
itself on
the level of
personal
service
offered to
all guests.
The hotel
has retained
the name
Palacio
O'Farrill
as a tribute
to its
earlier
owners.
Don Ricardo
O'Farrill
and O'Daly,
whose family
came from
County
Longford in
Ireland, was
a wealthy
merchant who
made his
fortune from
the
notoriously
lucrative
slave trade.
He was also
the owner of
several
sugar mills.
Don Ricardo
arrived in
Havana in
the early
18th century
and is
attributed
as the
founder of
the
O'Farrill
family in
Cuba, which
subsequently
went on to
gain a
reputation
for its
notable
performance
in
administration,
commerce and
in the
country's
cultural
development.
They were
further
distinguished
by a
plethora of
titles of
the
nobility.
As time went
by, the
O'Farrills
became
involved in
different
aspects of
Cuban
society:
Nicolas
Calvo de la
Puerta y
O'Farrill, a
distinguished
academic and
Doctor of
Theology at
the
Pontifical
University
of San
Jeronimo,
who
introduced
improvements
in sugar
cane
production
and promoted
the Sociedad
Patriotica
(Patriotic
Club) in
collaboration
with Baron
Alexander
Von
Humboldt.
Juan
Montalvo y
O'Farrill
owned the
first
steamship
used in
Cuba. Jose
Ricardo and
Rafael
O'Farrill
and Herrera
were listed
among the 18
most
influential
and richest
people in
Havana under
the rule of
Spanish
Governor
Miguel
Tacon.
Others
played
important
roles in the
army,
commerce and
music, and
in various
government
offices.
Two splendid
mansions in
Old Havana
perpetuate
the memory
of the
O'Farrill
family. One,
on the
corner of
Habana and
Chacon
streets, was
acquired by
the Church
and up until
recently was
the site of
the
Archbishop
of Havana's
office. The
other, on
the corner
of Cuba and
Chacon
streets,
built in the
first half
of the 19th
century by
Jose Ricardo
O'Farrill y
O'Farrill,
Don
Ricardo's
great
grandson,
underwent
some
architectural
changes in
the 20th
century,
resulting in
the building
as it stands
today.
Subsequent
to the
O'Farrill
family, the
latter-mentioned
mansion
housed
several
other
important
institutions:
the Property
Register,
the Supreme
Court and
Attorney's
Office, the
Justice
Secretariat
and the
Lawyers
College. It
also
contained
the Public
Works
Special
Funding
office, a
section of
the Treasury
Department
responsible
for the
registration
of motor
vehicles.
Traces of
the
building's
18th, 19th
and 20th
century
architecture,
plus the
decoration
and ambience
of each
floor in
accordance
with these
centuries,
bring an
unique
fusion of
the past and
the present
that makes
it a place
where one
longs to
return. Our
visitors,
therefore,
are
privileged
to live
THREE
CENTURIES
SIMULTANEOUSLY.
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