Hacienda Buena Vista
Hacienda Buena Vista, considered one of Puerto Rico's best remaining examples of a coffee plantation, consists of an 87 acre agricultural complex constructed in the mid-19th century. The hacienda's principle buildings, grouped together within a three acre area, include the hacienda manor house, a carriage house, horse and mule stables, a caretaker's house and office, two warehouses, a hurricane shelter, a corn mill and slave quarters. A canal, beginning at the top of "Vives Waterfall," goes through an aqueduct and on to the coffee mill, which is a two-story wooden building located to the northwest of the Hacienda Manor House. At its height Hacienda Buena Vista produced and processed more than 10,000 pounds of coffee per year for shipment to Europe. The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico purchased the land and buildings from the Vives family in 1984.
Hacienda Buena Vista is located in Barrio Magüeyes, on State Rd. 10 north of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico completed restoration of the hacienda complex for use as a living musuem. Reservations are required for two-hour tours offered Saturday and Sunday at 8:30am, 10:30am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm. Group tours can be arranged for Wednesdays and Thursdays. There is a fee for admission. Call 787-722-5882 or 787-722-5834 or 787-284-7020 on the weekends. Hacienda Buena Vista has also been documented by the Historic American Engineering Record.
Information and photos courtesy of the National Register for Historic Places Puerto Rico Travel Itinerary, a subsidiary of the National Park Service.
