Mansion Quinta del Carmen was built in 1918 by Adriaan Laclé, a prominent local businessman.

As many rich Arubans before him, he built the large weekend house in the countryside. He named it after his daughter Maria del Carmen. The Laclé family did not live there permanently – the house was used for short stays, weekends and (wedding) parties.

In 1929 the Eagle Refinery, established by the Royal Dutch Shell, bought Quinta del Carmen, which was located where the low-rise hotels, the golf course and the hospital are now. Crude oil from nearby Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela was processed at the Eagle and at the Lago Refinery.

The refinery needed a hospital for its 3000 employees and for treatment of sick or injured tanker crew members; it used the house as a residence for doctors and nurses as well.

The first refinery doctor was an Englishman, Doctor Cameron, who brought his elderly mother. Behind the house, he built guest quarters for her to live in.

The successor of Doctor Cameron was a Dutchman, Doctor Dussenbroek, who built a small hospital with 16 beds behind the mansion. Quinta del Carmen stayed the residence for nurses even when separate doctors’ quarters were built on the grounds.

In 1942, the refining of oil was suspended at the Eagle refinery, the smallest one on the Dutch West-Indies islands. Most employees were transferred to the Shell refinery on sister island Curaçao and the hospital was shut down. The remaining staff members used Quinta del Carmen as a club house during the weekends.

One of the Eagle employees, an avid golf player, wanted to build a golf course on the lawn behind Quinta del Carmen and in 1937 it became a 7-hole course. Since there was not enough space for 9 holes, 2 holes had to be played twice; a club house was also built there.

After WW II, the refinery became obsolete and was shut down in 1953. Sadly, Quinta del Carmen fell into disrepair, but the charming historical mansion still lured a succession of home seekers into buying it. Throughout the years, the house received tender, loving care from its owners and it was slowly restored to its former splendor.

Over the decades, several families have lived in the house, but at the end of 2014 that changed and the opening of the elegant Quinta del Carmen restaurant was celebrated.

Quinta del Carmen has the appropriate slogan ‘Monumental Courtyard Dining’.

This historic country house has become accessible to the public and you can dine – both inside and in the backyard – in a monumental setting.