61 years have passed since May 30, 1961, when a group of brave Dominicans assassinated Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, whose dictatorship had been in place for 30 years, filling Dominican families with mourning and pain.
SANTO DOMINGO.– Rafael Leónidas Trujillo owned homes throughout the Dominican Republic. But he always held a special affection for those he owned in his hometown, which was later named “Trujillo Province” (San Cristóbal) by law in 1932, two years after he seized power.
The Castle of the Hill and the Mahogany House, in addition to those facing the Caribbean Sea such as the beach house in Najayo and the Hacienda Maria (white house), were the ones that the dictator visited most in San Cristóbal.
Today, three of these four properties are abandoned, filled with debris, their walls and ceilings torn by time and human hands, and some showing signs of temporary residence. Few traces remain of the elegant halls of these residences once graced by Trujillo, his family, and special guests, as reported yesterday in the Sunday edition of the newspaper Listín Diario.
Trujillo's first house
Trujillo was born in 1891 where Piedras Vivas Park is located today, in the center of San Cristóbal.
“The house, it is said, was modest, but one of the most spacious in the town. Its roof was made of zinc and it was painted red. It had eight rooms, divided into six bedrooms and the rest into living rooms,” describes the book “Memories of San Cristóbal” by José Pimentel Muñoz.
This house was demolished in 1932 and 12 years later the “Living Stones” Monument was built in its place.
The park, which was a work of the architect Henry Gazón, as was the Church of Our Lady of Consolation, is currently used as an area for recreation and cultural activities.
Castle on the Hill
The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) defines a hill as an isolated elevation of land. And this description fits perfectly with the location of the hilltop castle, a construction that brought misfortune to Trujillo's favorite architect: Henry Gazón.
The dictator himself chose the construction site and it was completed in just two years: between 1947 and 1949. The property was a gift from the Dominican Party and cost five million dollars, a currency that, at that time, had the same value as the Dominican peso.
The luxurious building has an exterior design inspired by the bow of a ship, and marble, plaster, and mahogany were used for its interior decoration.
From inside, you can see the city in 360 degrees. Glass is everywhere. And on a clear day, you can see some buildings in downtown Santo Domingo, about 29 kilometers away from the property, through the roof.
Architect Carlos Báez Brugal, former president of the Dominican Society of Architects, said that before construction Gazón made three plans of the property and gave them to Trujillo.
“The construction of that castle began, and the architect himself would sometimes arrive and find changes that Trujillo had made,” Brugal said in a telephone interview.
In the end, Trujillo did not like the building, he described it as a madhouse and never resided there.
According to the dictator, one of the party rooms had a coffin-shaped ceiling and, much to Trujillo's dismay, the mural painted by the Spaniard José Vela Zanetti, who had asked that it represent a typical Dominican party, instead had the faces of disgruntled Creoles.
Trujillo also disliked the decoration of the main rooms because they were adorned with figures from mythology, they also had ten doors and the amount of elements was excessive.
The obvious exposure was a disadvantage that Trujillo saw after its construction, because he felt that the castle was an easy target.
The site is now home to the National Penitentiary School of the Attorney General's Office, and during a tour led by José Julián Escalante, one of the members of the institution, he explained that Trujillo feared being attacked by a missile launched by a United States Navy ship.
As a result of Trujillo's displeasure, both Gazón and Zanetti had to flee the country and go into exile in Canada.
What does it look like today?
In 2004, the Dominican State acquired it, and its renovation cost approximately 35 million pesos. This reconstruction was inaugurated on February 14, 2006.
Access to the castle isn't so easy. There's a policeman at the gate, and they generally don't let you in unless you have an appointment or prior notice.
At the entrance you can see the five stars that characterized the "generalissimo" and, a few steps inside, there are mahogany chairs with the national coat of arms.
On the first floor, which looks noticeably improved despite retaining an old-fashioned feel, there is a library named Hermanas Mirabal, where the castle's casino used to be.
In addition, there is an original elevator from that era that is currently out of use and a storage area where the first floor bathrooms used to be.
The halls have a hybrid feel, blending the present and the past. The "buffet room" is filled with black chairs used by inmates, though some of the original decor is still visible, such as the initials of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina on the ceilings.
On the second floor is the house's chapel, where the image of the Virgin of Mercy, to whom Trujillo was a faithful devotee, is kept hanging.
Among the classrooms and rooms, there is also a small museum on the third level of the castle, where Trujillo's beds and other personal items such as telephones and furniture are exhibited, which remain in good condition.
The level has a museum where there is a replica of the electric chair from the 40th Street prison and informational posters about anti-Trujillo movements.
And the fourth floor has a terrace with a clear view of San Cristóbal, the surrounding vegetation, and even the Caribbean Sea. Although it was previously used as a dance floor, it has occasionally been adapted as a classroom and, at other times, as a banquet hall for events such as weddings.
Most of the luxury items that the house had were stolen over time, and during its abandonment it was used as a refuge during natural disasters such as Hurricanes David (1979) and Georges (1998).
Mahogany house
What was once the dictator's favorite residence is located in the La Suiza sector of San Cristóbal. The "mahogany house" was, in fact, the place Trujillo was heading to on the night of May 30, 1961, before being assassinated on the George Washington Expressway.
At the end of its construction, in the mid-1940s, “to access the path that led to it, one had to pass through a gate guarded by a military patrol that, at first, was commanded by a sergeant and later by a lieutenant,” recounts the writer Guaroa Ubiñas in his book “Hacienda Fundación”.
Today the scene is different. The gate is metal and topped with barbed wire. A dilapidated jeep blocks the narrow path. You have to climb on foot. And at the top of the hill, a man, accompanied by two stray dogs, watches over it. He is Osvaldo Rodríguez Ruiz, who, according to him, has been taking care of the property for 30 years.
What was the house like?
Before it was finished, the house was built by four people: the surveyor Emilio Espino, the engineers Félix Benítez Rexach and Bonet Báez, and the latter's assistant, Ramón Velázquez.
Trujillo had his office there where he read the reports from the Hacienda Fundación, and all the information related to the government.
Ubiñas points out in his work that the dictator's room was on the third floor.
“Trujillo would go to the mahogany house for personal meetings, with a concubine or a friend, and would discuss things privately,” explained historian Manuel Núñez.
In addition, the property was used as a festive gathering spot, such as for one of his son Ramfis Trujillo's birthdays.
An inventory conducted by the Agricultural Bank after the execution details that the second floor contained tables and cabinets with 20 pairs of shoes. Another feature mentioned is that the third floor had a mahogany staircase with a rug depicting the American flag.
What does it look like?
Despite the fact that Law 44-87 on the Mahogany House Trust was created in 1987, the property is practically abandoned.
Little remains of what was once another of the dictator's luxurious homes. Traces of mahogany are almost nonexistent, at least on the first floor where the house's garage was located and which was mostly decorated with opaque glass and windows, according to Ubiñas.
According to news reports from Listín Diario, the looting of the property began months after the tyrant's execution. Natural disasters also caused damage to the infrastructure.
Although the structure is "sturdy", there is very little evidence inside that this was once a mahogany house.
Access is only permitted up to the second floor, as the stairs to the third floor have collapsed. What could be seen was a small garbage dump, feces, discarded clothing, wood, condoms, and other debris.
The walls of the house are covered in countless messages written with spray paint, and only a few designs remain of the luxurious ceilings.
On the second floor there is a large hall, which has minimal signs of mahogany, such as seats attached to the walls that have not yet been removed from the place.
It is presumed that a remodeling has been attempted, because in some rooms they have placed blocks and cement, but the work has been left unfinished.
What happened to the luxuries?
“The belongings of the mahogany house gradually disappeared from 1962 onwards,” recounts the book “Memories of San Cristóbal.”.
In an article published by Listín Diario in May 2019, it was indicated that at that time the Museum of History and Geography, located in the Plaza de la Cultura, was exhibiting some pieces found in this house.
The inventory included military uniforms, hats, perfume bottles, the presidential sash, as well as beds and other household furniture.
Also, porcelain plates, lamps, a console-type music player, trophies and other decorative and personal items.
Hacienda María
The house known as Trujillo's "white house" now has more of a mixture between white and greenish due to the wear and tear of the paint and the abandonment of the property.
It has a couple of glass windows; the rest are just unprotected openings. The same is true where there used to be doors.
There is a coat of arms at what is presumed to be the main entrance. A little further up, it says it is a Convention Center of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects, and Surveyors (CODIA). However, neither the exterior nor the interior shows that the facilities are currently used for that purpose.
Outside the house, on the left side, there is a monument to the Martyrs of the Hacienda, who assassinated the tyrant: Modesto Díaz, Roberto Pastoriza, Luis Manuel Cáceres (Tunti), Pedro Livio Cedeño, Huáscar Tejeda, and Salvador Estrella Sadhalá. They were murdered by Ramfis Trujillo and collaborators of the regime on November 18, 1961.
According to historian Manuel Núñez, this was Trujillo's family home, where he would go for personal meetings and lunches. In fact, Hacienda María was named in honor of his wife, María Martínez de Trujillo.
“It had her name (Maria) and that’s why she went with her family, it was an open place, it didn’t have hidden, private rooms up high,” Núñez said.
For his greater comfort, Trujillo ordered the construction of "the Generalissimo's baths," which consist of a breakwater and several structures that simulate jacuzzis or natural pools on the beach in front of the house, on the Caribbean Sea.
Despite being a convention center, inside there are neither bathrooms nor any functioning rooms: the floors are destroyed as well as the ceilings.
The house had a neglected swimming pool and a mini golf course.
According to a 2010 report by Yaniris López for Listín Diario, this land was ceded to the Codia in 1982, an institution that created a board of trustees to oversee its restoration. And, in 2009, it had been remodeled to become part of the Nigua ecological park.
Over the decades, this area has also been occupied by the Ministry of the Environment.
On the day of the tour, two members of Codia were in the area. One of them was supervising the repairs to some of the halls so that, according to him, the property could be used again as a convention center.
Najayo Beach House
Through its windows, you can see the palm trees, the vegetation of Najayo, and the Caribbean Sea. But looking around, you see the complete opposite of paradise: garbage and ruins.
Before Trujillo's death, this beach house was a place of relaxation for the tyrant.
Upon entering there is a sign indicating that the Najayo Beach Police Detachment was located there, but there is no trace of it having been used for that purpose.
The walls are torn, and people have written messages like “Those who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it… are we repeating it?”
Newspaper reports from more than fifteen years ago point to the same problem.
Inside, there are no objects to indicate that Trujillo lived there. And, apparently, a young woman with apparent mental health problems resides in the house, since she was seen by reporters from Listín Diario just before leaving the property.
Other homes in Trujillo
Architect Carlos Báez said that Trujillo had, on average, 35 homes in the country.
According to the book "Trujillo in 500 tweets", published by Báez, the dictator had a house in each headquarters of the Dominican Party, mainly on the second floor.
Henry Gazón's style was always neoclassical, Báez emphasized. However, in the 1920s, architects came to the country and began to develop a modern architectural style.
Trujillo's Fortune
According to the book “Properties and investments of Generalissimo Dr. Rafael L. Trujillo Molina”, the lands of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo in San Cristóbal had a value of 3,166 pesos.
By May 30, 1961, the day of his assassination, Trujillo had a fortune of more than 55 million pesos.
Source: Listín Diario
