Wild Home
Schelpstraat 12

The almost free-standing TOWN CUNUCU HOUSE realized in the second half of the nineteenth century by the merchant Victor Wild, built in the traditional construction style, lies with its ridge parallel to the old Schelpstraat. Wild was a merchant and ship owner and just like his neighbors Henriquez  on Schelpstraat 36-38 and Ecury on Schelpstraat 40-42, he transported import & export products. This home is built in different construction stages. 

Initially the house consisted of a core under a saddle roof covered by old-Dutch roofing tiles with one pair of dormers. The old attic has an old door opening with old iron hinges in the outside wall on the east gable. So the old attic was accessible via the outside.  The original saddle roof above the original core is still equipped with old-Dutch roof tiles and a wooden go by rail cap, existing of small straight tree trunks. It is known that this type of small tree trunks were also imported from Venezuela. As usual in the old Aruban construction tradition the openings of the tiles roof are plastered with chalk on the outside and the inside.  The dormers are still partly of brick. Application of brick is hardly found in Aruba. In Curacao it was more usual to use bricks for the finer work in the architecture.

These were imported from Holland.

The old core has been extended at a later stage on the East side.  

At a much later stage in this construction, the new second attic was placed under the saddle roof. Through the addition of this second attic, the initially Eastern gable with the attic door opening fitted in the building. On the aerial picture at DOW which was made between 1954-1958, one sees that the second attic roof has no dormer.

Ms Lucy Krozendijk, the former resident, indicates that she has known the house with four dormers, two on the old attic and two on new one.

This older roof must have been replaced before 1954 by the current roof without dormers and is older than fifty years. Therefore it qualifies for protection.

The south gallery of the core has been extended to the west side with a construction, at an early stage; it could have been during or rapidly after the south gallery was finished.

Remarkably enough nowadays a fogon is lacking.

In a yet later stage, supposedly in first half of the twentieth century, the south gallery was extended with a construction on the east side. Seen the presence of a (second) door opening in the south wall of this construction, it is possible that this had a public function, such as a work – or a shop space.

The Kunuku town homes have been more often equipped with a built on work and shop space (see Wilhelminastraat).

More closely historical researches could determine this.

The residence has on the West side a small yard fenced by hardcore stones.

                                                                Composed by the Monument Office

 
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