Villa Dupont (Box Office Dupont) in Varadero became the first urban mansion of the resort. In fact, it was with her that the resort began. In 1930, the richest American of French origin, I. Dupont, bought the land of virtually the entire peninsula with a profit for himself. On the 180 acres received, there were pristine untouched beaches with a length of 8 km, but the millionaire preferred to settle near the rocky spurs of San Bernardino. Here he built his own house, naming the mansion “Xanadu” after the amazing palace from “Kubla Khan” by S. Taylor. The mansion was designed to serve the 54-year-old millionaire and his rather big family as a winter cottage. At that time, nothing so chic and modern was seen in these places.
The architects of the villa were Covarrocas and Govantes, and during the construction of the villa Dupont they used the latest materials and technologies. There were 11 bedrooms with private bathrooms, three spacious terraces, seven balconies, a garage for 7 cars and a private marina. With four floors, there were even — unprecedented! — elevators. In 1932, DuPont installed in the house the largest private organ in all of Latin America, which resulted in 11 thousand USD. The mechanism was located in the basement, and the organ could play both automatically and with the help of a person. Thanks to a special pipe system, the sounds of the organ could be heard on the terrace and in the hall, but did not disturb the guests in the bedrooms.
The American also did not stint on the interior decoration: expensive wood for ceilings, stair railings and columns was brought from Santiago de Cuba, and the bathrooms were lined with valuable Italian and Spanish marble. Dupont collected excellent drinks in the wine cellar, and set up a golf course near the villa. When all the work was completed, the total amount of investments in the mansion amounted to 1.3 million USD, and a staff of 76 people was needed to maintain it. In the following years, the territory of the mansion only expanded, and the value of the land steadily increased. The gardens were planted with coconut palms, avocados and papayas, and colorful cockatoos were specially imported here to create an exotic atmosphere.
In the spring of 1957, DuPont visited his villa for the last time. The revolution in Cuba put an end to many old and wealthy private homes: they were nationalized and often fell into disrepair from neglect. Villa Dupont did not escape a similar fate, but her fate was still happier. First a school was opened in the house, and then the famous restaurant “Las Americas” was opened to this day. Once “popular” (and not very popular at that time), today it is a very refined and expensive restaurant with international cuisine.
The guest of honor at the opening of the Las Americas restaurant in 1963 was Valentina Tereshkova, who was on an official visit to Cuba. On the same day, 85-year-old Dupont died in the United States.
The golf course at the villa was enlarged, making it possible to organize a whole golf club with an 18-hole course here. Nowadays, the club is more than functional, and officially the Dupont villa belongs to him, being the club headquarters. A mini-hotel with six rooms with balconies and sea views has been opened in the building today. At the same time, everyone has the right to inspect the mansion for a fee. In addition to the restaurant on the ground floor, there is a panoramic bar on the third floor: Dupont’s wine cellars are still used for their intended purpose, and those who wish can go down there.
Ernesto Guevara himself practiced golf on the Dupont course, as evidenced by his photo taken during this activity, which can be seen inside the mansion.