The Teguise City Council has sent to the Department of Ecological Transition and Territorial Policy, as well as to Heritage and Environment of the Island Council, the rehabilitation project of the Casa Modernista de Famara drafted by the Diocese of the Canary Islands, owner of the historic building located on the beachfront of the town of Caleta de Famara.
The mayor of Teguise, Oswaldo Betancort, celebrates that “at last the Diocese has presented a project to recover one of the most unique examples of the architecture of our island, such as the summer house of Don Luis Ramírez”, and has requested “the greatest urgency in the drafting of the pertinent sector reports by the institutions required so that this necessary rehabilitation for the conservation of the property is carried out as soon as possible”.
“The deterioration of the Casa Modernista is notorious, which has been fenced off due to the danger of collapse and which is very deteriorated, as has been denounced for years by the residents of La Caleta, as well as the Teguise City Council, since, being owned by the church, it has not been possible to intervene”, recalls Betancort.
“We would like to have the maximum collaboration of the Cabildo and the Government of the Canary Islands so that the last will of Don Luis Ramírez is answered, but also to those who have insisted that the authorities intervene as soon as possible so as not to lose this heritage value, as did the neighborhood association of Caleta de Famara”, added Olivia Duque, head of the Technical Office.
Unique modernist example of Lanzarote
“The decoration of the facade of the house, which has been falling off, is a display of marine motifs: dolphins, octopuses, shells and winkles with sinuous shapes run through the curved space of the facade and speak of the influence of art nouveau or modernism, which had been so successful in Europe, especially in Gaudí's Barcelona, and that Luis Ramírez, a famous traveler and lover of art and culture, wanted to recreate in his summer house, giving us in this way this architectural jewel, the only modernist example on the island”, highlights Arminda Arteta in her blog Lanzarote Inédita.
“In one of the interior walls he built a niche to bury his dog Florinda, honored on a small gravestone that read: Here lies Florinda, man's best friend, demonstrating, once again, enormous sensitivity”, says the historian.
“One of the people who knew him, José Ferrer Perdomo (owner of the Tanit museum), informed me about the affection and admiration that the children felt towards Luis Ramírez, because, among other things, he gave a peseta to every child who brought him a basket full of small potatoes, limpets, winkles or sea urchin roe, favorite foods of the patron”, he adds, pointing out that "unfortunately, this property, which was donated by its owner to the Church, is dying slowly, attacked by the effect of the sea and by the even more ferocious effect of oblivion, waiting for some sensitive spirit like that of the one who built it to rescue it and make it shine again in all its splendor”.
