The story behind this rose colored mansion is that an old Spaniard living in Havana in the 30s met and fell in love with a local Cuban woman. So strong was this love that he built her this house complete with marble floors, crystal chandeliers, a spiral staircase, a magnificent garder. However, as Casa del Amistad neared completion, the young woman fell ill and soon died. Grief stricken the Colonel returned to Spain leaving the Casa to all its uninhabited splendor.
Located on Paseo in the Vedado district, Casa de la Amistad is one of the many archetectural highlights you'll see while strolling this tree lined boulevard. Casa de la Amistad is run by the Cuban government as a "friendship house." Lunch and dinner are served at mediocre prices and in the evening there is entertainment in the garden. The fare is a bit watered down, a troupe of tropicana girls in their feathered and beaded regailia dancing to recorded rhumba. All in all it resembles a weak throwback to the pre-Castro days when Cuba was considered by many to be the "bordello of the United States." This time around however there is more Disney and less brothel. But the building itself is a real treat to the eye, so emblematic of Cuba's multi-layered history.