Aura Winkel in Scharloo used to house restaurants, offices, nightclubs, an art gallery, and more recently a gym. The building will be enticing to serious and creative entrepreneurs who dare to re-envision what is possible here. It can be used for a variety of commercial purposes, like retail, hospitality, care & wellness, and the art & culture sector. This property sits on a 2240 m2 ownership lot and has a built surface of 1091 m2. ‘Aura Winkel’ is a registered monument.

Description

Ground Floor

The grounds are accessible from the Scharlooweg or Waaigat. There is a large, paved yard on the Scharlooweg side of the building and a charming little patio on the side of the Movies, with original mosaic tiles and lace woodworking. There is a concrete stage and bar in the yard that could be used for events. On the property, there are restrooms and shower rooms available.

The great room is flanked by a former gallery on both sides and connects the front yard to the patio. The west side of the building is devoted to supporting spaces, like restrooms, kitchen, and storage. The other large room is to the east of the patio. It has a beautiful wooden floor and a lot of natural light. There is also some office and storage space on this side.

First Floor

The main entrance of the building is via the wide balcony in front. On the other three sides of the building, there are also staircases going up. The main spaces in the middle of the floor are surrounded by a wide corridor connecting two wings on the south side of the building. The spaces here look out over a small patio. On this floor, there are a total of eleven separate spaces, that vary in size between 15 – 24 M2. Several of these spaces are connected through removable walls, so the possibility exists to reconnect spaces to get to a maximum size room of 50 M2. On this floor, there is a kitchenette, two toilets, and a supply closet with a mop sink. This floor features beautiful wooden floors, traditional lace woodworking details, and frosted glass doors.

Second Floor

A wide corridor can be accessed by one of the two internal staircases. All the rooms on this floor have direct access to the wide balcony overlooking the yard and the hills of Scharloo Abao beyond. On this floor, there are a total of four separate spaces, that vary in size between 19 – 32 M2. On this floor, there is a kitchenette and one toilet. This floor features beautiful wooden floors, an original mosaic tile floor, and green frosted glass doors with brass fixings.

Side building

In the elongated side building, there are storage spaces, shower rooms, bathrooms, and a former bar/restaurant building. One part of the building is a former rainwater cistern.

To place your bid, or for more information, please send an e-mail to info@monumentenzorg.cw.

History

The first building activity on this plot dates back between 1729 and 1745. At that time there was a house with a few annexes, a water reservoir, a coach house, horse stables a pond, and a ‘playa’, which is a coral stone square where the laundry would be laid out to dry in the sun. It is likely that the mentioned house is a previous version of the one that occupies the spot today.

Who lived there

The building was one of many owned by the protestant family Winkel, who were originally from Otrobanda. Aura Winkel was the last person from the family to occupy this house. Her grandparents, ‘Papa Chan’ and ‘Ma Eni’ lived with their 11 children in the mansion next door, which was demolished in the 1960s to make space for the access road to the Juliana bridge. This neo-classical house with pilasters and a little watch tower was originally built with the floorplan of a traditional plantation house, although no longer recognizable as such. The family Winkel painted all their properties oxblood red, supposedly as one of the forefathers once won the lottery with a red or pink lottery ticket.

The restoration

The Curaçao Heritage Foundation took over the care of this building in 1991. The house was restored as well as the additional buildings on the property. Old pictures of the interior reveal traditional high-end living. Decorative woodwork adorns the patio below as well as one of the living spaces upstairs. The house was furnished with valuable Curaçao antiques.

Since its restoration, the building has hosted a variety of ventures, from a restaurant to a nightclub and from plain offices to an art gallery. Famous tenants have included Area 1850, Club Bermuda, and in one of the outbuildings the first TuTuTango. The building has been vacant for the past few years, and while structurally sound, it does require maintenance and some refurbishments to be ready for a new use.

The former living quarters of Manita Winkel are quiet today, waiting patiently for the next chapter in their history to unfold. Who will fall in love with it and what activities will they develop here? The story of our heritage remains in constant motion.

About Monumentenzorg

Stichting Monumentenzorg Curacao is a non-profit foundation with a mission to restore and preserve built heritage and to protect the historical fabric of World Heritage City Willemstad. For this reason in the contract of sale for this building, a couple of special provisions will be included. This includes the ‘maintenance clause’, obligating the buyer to maintain the building in good condition, and the ‘anti-speculation clause’, which prohibits the sale of the building for the first five years.

About Schaloo

Scharloo became a well-to-do neighborhood in the late 19th century, with many business owners building their villas here. The decline of the area began after the arrival of automobiles. Residents moved away due to increased labor costs, causing houses to become vacant and fall into disrepair, eventually inhabited by homeless individuals. To counteract this decline, new initiatives were established in the late ’80s, leading to the restoration of many properties since then. Soon, the construction of a luxury apartment building will completed at the Wharf in Scharloo. This significant new development will provide an economic boost to the area. Currently, there are banks, government agencies, hotels, and other institutions located there.

Scharloo is increasingly being discovered by tourists and local residents. Many locally renowned artists have created beautiful murals in this neighborhood, and various art and history excursions are organized on a large scale. The neighborhood is evolving artistically and offers many more possibilities. The downtown area of Punda and the nightlife district of Pietermaai are within walking distance of Scharloo. The government, with the collaboration of top-level professionals worldwide, has developed a master plan for Curaçao. This specific part of Scharloo is designated as the ‘Business Strip,’ making it crucial for all vacant buildings to be restored and subsequently occupied by offices.

The premises are easily accessible by motorized transport. There is a lot of parking available at the public Waaigat parking nearby. Depending on the type of project that will take place, Aqualectra, the utility company, will need to assess whether an increase in water and electricity capacity in the vicinity will be necessary. According to the regulations of the Monument Law and the Island Development Plan (EOP), existing monuments must be restored, and new construction cannot exceed two – in exceptional cases, three – levels.