In Wilhelminastraat, across from the Eman merchant’s house, one finds Addison Croes’ merchant’s house. It dates back to the year 1913.

About a century ago, Addison Winfried Croes (1887 – 1973) was a prominent business man, who lived on the first floor of this house with his family – his hardware store occupied the ground floor.

Addison Croes owned a couple of monumental houses elsewhere in Oranjestad. He built a country house on the main road to the other side of the island, Fergusonstraat, now Avenida Milio Croes, to be used during the week-ends. That beautiful building currently houses the office of the Aruba Monumentsfund Foundation (AMFF).

Another gem of a monument Addison Croes built is the well known Botica Aruba on Steenstraat, restored in recent years by AMFF.

Unfortunately, the merchant’s house building on Wilhelminastraat – no longer inhabited – fell into disrepair in the course of the past decades – a fate similar to a great many other buildings in the center of town.

When MetaCorp Aruba, the main private employer on the island, was going to sell its properties of hotels, malls and casinos, it needed to move its offices from the building to be sold. They selected the former Addison Croes’ merchant’s house and bought it.

The building was beautifully restored and now houses its gorgeous new headquarters.

Inside, on the ground floor, there is a private museum with all kinds of artifacts and memorabilia of the company’s various branches and enterprises, among them a series of antique movie projectors. The offices of MetaCorp occupy the first floor.

The result is a very unobtrusive, private building where the details of – for instance – the early 20th century wall construction have been beautifully preserved on the inside.

Outside, large grey stained glass windows depict the aspects of the work of MetaCorp’s different branches. Go take a look!

Of course, the offices are not open to the public, but at the occasion of the 2024 Open Monuments Day, the company museum opened its doors to the visitors that day.