Casa Popenoe

A private home that is open to the public on specified hours is the Casa Popenoe, originally constructed in the first half of the 17th century for don Luís de las Infantas y Mendoza, a Spaniard and judge in the Royal Audiencia. This house had fallen into ruins and was lovingly restored by Dr. Wilson Popenoe and his wife Dorothy in the 1930s. The Popenoes furnished the house with period antiques collected over the years. Like many colonial residences, the home is built right up to the sidewalk and presents massive walls to the public. But the interior is graced with flowered patios flanked by cool shaded corridors. Popenoe's collection of colonial art and furnishings, the complete colonial kitchen, baths and laundry areas, dovecote and other features of this home make it a must to the visitor interested in how the Spanish colonial elite lived. Dr. Popenoe was an American agronomist who worked in Central America for many years; the story of the restoration of this wonderful home was the subject of a book by Louis Adamic, "The House in Antigua".