Chalet de Arrieta (or Casa Juanita) is a tourist attraction in Arrieta, as you can probably see why from the photo. However, this strange looking house has a devastating story behind it.
The man who constructed the house, Don Juan de León Perdomo, was born on Lanzarote but moved to Argentina where he would find his fortune, go onto marry his wife Doña Juana Alemana, and have a daughter called Juanita.
Juanita unfortunately fell ill with tuberculosis and, on doctors’ orders, was recommended to move near the sea where she would benefit from iodine from the sea.
Don Juan, with his wife and daughter, returned to Lanzarote. He constructed the house in Arrieta in 1916 (modelled after his daughter’s doll house) to allow his family to live on the coast. Hoping that it would improve his daughter’s condition.
His daughter, Jaunita, enjoyed five years in Arrieta before passing away from the disease in 1921. Juanita’s grave can be found at the Haría cemetery to this day.
The house fell into disrepair for some time after Don Juan and Doña Juana passed away, but it was eventually restored in the early 2000s.
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