The Machín–Ramos Residence (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Residencia Machín–Ramos'') is a historic late 19th-century house located in San Lorenzo Pueblo, the administrative and historic center of the municipality of

San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico San Lorenzo (, ; Spanish for "''Saint Lawrence"'') is a San Lorenzo barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico located in the eastern central region, north of Patillas, Puerto Rico, Patillas and Yabucoa, Pu ...

. The building is the best example of 19th-century Spanish Creole vernacular architecture in San Lorenzo and a good example of this style of architecture in Puerto Rico, with well-preserved examples of this type of building becoming rarer throughout the island in the 20th century. Although the exact date of construction is not officially known, it is very possible based on urban plans that the building existed before 1883, the oldest written documentation of its existence in the form of property titles. The first known owner of the building was Don Pedro Machín y Flores and his wife Cándida Rosa Machín y Parrilla, the former being the daughter of San Lorenzo mayor Don José Machín y Alonso. The Machín family originated from the island of

Fuerteventura Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, geographically part of Macaronesia, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the coast of North Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO i ...

in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, relating to the Isleño or Canarian vernacular architectural style that inspired this type of residence throughout 18th and 19th-century Puerto Rico. The house has been declared a historical monument by the

Institute of Puerto Rican Culture An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

(ICP) and has been listed in the

United States National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of sites, buildings, structures, districts, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

since 1989. Today it functions as a

house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...

and as the headquarters of the Municipal Department of Art, Culture and Tourism of San Lorenzo (''Departamento de Arte, Cultura y Turismo de San Lorenzo'').

Gallery

File:ResidenciaMachin-RamosNPG.jpg, The house in 1988. File:Residencia Machín Ramos 3 2023.jpg, House balcony in 2023. File:Residencia Machín Ramos 4 2023.jpg, House balcony detail in 2023. File:Residencia Machín Ramos 5 2023.jpg, Front entrance across the town square (''plaza pública'') in 2023.

References

Creole architecture in insular areas of the United States Historic house museums in Puerto Rico Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico {{PuertoRico-NRHP-stub

Gallery

See also

References