In the municipality of Moca, Puerto Rico, lies a building of another era. This castle is called the Palacete los Moreau (or Palace of Moreau). It all begins in the late 1800’s, when three Spanish brothers moved from what is now known as Hordarribia, Spain, to Moca, Puerto Rico. They wanted to create a successful business after the Spanish government gave all foreigners who settled on the island an incentive if they promised to start a business. On the acres of land the brothers had purchased, they created a coffee plantation called the Irurena (which means brothers in the Basque language), and they built a small wooden house. These brothers would make frequent trips between Puerto Rico and France. They would leave the plantation under the watch of Juan Labadie, the caretaker. When one of the brothers died in 1860, the plantation was sold to Labadie. He ran the business along with his wife, Cornelia Pellot, who was a freed slave.
The couple would manage it until Labadie died in 1893, thus it fell in the hands of Manuel Lamela Valdez, a family friend. After his death, the house became too uncomfortable and unsafe for Cordelia, so Lamela offered to build a stronger, much more elegant home. She agreed, and the wooden house was demolished, and a larger, concrete one was built. This is where the concept of Palacete of Los Moreas comes from. This reconstruction would conclude in 1905. By that time, the Spanish American War had concluded, and the island would go from being a Spanish territory to an American one. This caused the plantation to shift from producing coffee to now producing sugar cane. This would be the status quo until the sugar market fell in the late 20th century. The mansion would fall into disuse, being at the mercy of vandalism until it caught fire in 1993. In that same year, the municipality would take control of the building and it would become a museum in 1999.
As it was mentioned before, El Palacete Los Moreau is located in the city of Moca, just where the iconic figure of Puerto Rican literature, Enrique Laguerre, was born. This house served as the muse for Enrique Laguerre’s famous novel “La Llamarada”. The novel was the first one he wrote and it was based on the 20th century during the sugarcane industry, the most important economic activity of Puerto Rico during that time. The author describes the house throughout his novel and bases the Moreau family on the original French owners, the Labadie. The French structure, now a house museum, became a legend in the world of Puerto Rican culture, and it is now named El Palacete Los Moreau in honor of the characters from Enrique Laguerre’s novel.In the museum, people can visit and travel back in time to Enrique Laguerre’s novel. It has become a spot where visitors come and take pictures, especially because of its beautiful gardens and all of the history engraved in the structure. If you would like to visit the house museum, it is important for you to know that it is open to the public on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and weekends from 9:00AM to 5:00PM. Also, the entrance is free of charge, and since it is currently owned by the city, you can schedule a tour inside the mansion if you would like. The mansion includes a library where you can find all of Enrique Laguerre’s novels and even other novels written by Puerto Rican authors. If you have the chance to visit this French hidden gem, you should definitely go for it because you will surely travel back in time to the setting of an iconic Puerto Rican novel.