{"id":4945,"date":"2021-06-22T13:01:55","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T13:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casalaganania.es\/our-history\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T10:52:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T10:52:01","slug":"our-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.casalaganania.es\/en\/our-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Our History"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A family<\/em> history
that remains alive<\/em><\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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For more than a hundred years, La Ga\u00f1an\u00eda has been our family’s home.
Today, we continue to care for it with the same love with which our ancestors built it, to share its peace and history with those who visit us.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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ABOUT US<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The soul<\/em> behind La Ga\u00f1an\u00eda<\/em><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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We are Blanca and Javier, the current hosts and heirs of this house that has been part of our family for generations. In 1980, we began to renovate it for our own use, bringing it back to life after years of being closed. We spent summers here with our children, celebrations with friends, and many quiet afternoons under the wooden corridor. <\/p>\n

In 1998, we took it a step further and opened the doors of La Ga\u00f1an\u00eda to rural tourism, making it one of the first rural houses in the Canary Islands. Since then, we have cared for it with the same love and respect with which our ancestors built it, and we continue to work with the hope that this story will continue in the family. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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A house with roots<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Canarian rural<\/em> architecture and history, preserved with love<\/em><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The word Ga\u00f1an\u00eda is known as a stable or cowshed. The dornajo (Canarian word for manger) presides over the exterior patio of the house and reminds us not only of the existence of a ga\u00f1an\u00eda in the back of the house, but also of how the area is known: Las Ga\u00f1an\u00edas. <\/p>\n

Today, we continue to live this project with the hope of maintaining its family continuity, and of continuing to work for what unites us: our Canarian idiosyncrasy, our customs, the nature and culture of our island.<\/p>\n

In its whitewashed stone walls, its intimate structure and its Mudejar-style wooden roofs, the spirit of the old rural houses of the archipelago is preserved. Nearly two hundred years after its construction, it maintains intact the forms that make it so genuinely ours. <\/p>\n

It is a faithful reflection of the kind but strong identity of the Canarian people, who for centuries, almost without exception, have built their homes on the same ideas: simple, functional and beautiful by nature.<\/p>\n

These houses did not alter the landscape, but accompanied it, trying to stop time in their way of living. But La Ga\u00f1an\u00eda has an even more important value: it is a living summary of the popular history of our islands. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Origin<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A woman<\/em>, a house<\/em> and a vocation<\/em> that marked an entire family<\/em><\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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B\u00e1rbara Gonz\u00e1lez, our great-grandmother, married to Domingo Hern\u00e1ndez, was the first of the family to inhabit the house, acquired for her by her father. There, the couple took care of the countryside, a key element to understanding the history of our land. <\/p>\n

B\u00e1rbara was a housewife, dedicated with care to raising her children: three boys (Agust\u00edn, Felipe and Nicol\u00e1s) and two daughters, Frasquita and Mar\u00eda. The two eldest emigrated to Cuba as teenagers, like so many young Canarians forced to seek new horizons. <\/p>\n

Of the work of that time, there are several testimonies in the house, such as the laundry room that is still preserved next to the barbecue, in what was the garden of the house, and which was used not only by the family but also by the neighbors.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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My mother and the siblings born in the house\n<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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But B\u00e1rbara didn’t just want to be a housewife. In the afternoons, in a small school that she organized in the central courtyard, she taught the children of the neighborhood to read and write. Even at night, men and women came after work to receive her classes. <\/p>\n

Many elders still remember with gratitude having learned with her, and said that “they knew how to write thanks to God and Do\u00f1a Barbarita”. Her work was enormous, and it is no coincidence that many of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren are teachers today: it is in our blood. <\/p>\n

Unfortunately, B\u00e1rbara never allowed herself to be photographed, but in the living room of La Ga\u00f1an\u00eda there is a pastel portrait of Do\u00f1a Frasquita, her daughter, our grandmother.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Family lunch in the courtyard of the house, with my grandparents and my aunts\n<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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My siblings Tere, Pepe and I\n<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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NEXT GENERATIONS<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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From our grandparents to the present<\/em>\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Francisca Hern\u00e1ndez, \u201cDo\u00f1a Frasquita\u201d, daughter of B\u00e1rbara, married Eulogio M\u00e9ndez Dorta, from Buenavista del Norte. They had a son (who died in the Civil War) and several daughters, including Manola, our mother. They spent their childhood and youth in La Ga\u00f1an\u00eda, until each one followed their own path: some went to live in La Orotava and our parents to Santa Cruz de Tenerife. <\/p>\n

Around 1954 the house was uninhabited. Time left its mark, but the heirs did not want to allow its ruin. In 1980 we made a first simple repair, which allowed us to enjoy it again as a family. <\/p>\n

We renamed the house with the name by which it is known today: La Ga\u00f1an\u00eda, in memory of the old stable that existed in the back of the house. Even the street where it is located was known among the neighbors as Camino de la Ga\u00f1an\u00eda. <\/p>\n

We hope that those who come to inhabit it for a few days will find here the same as us: its charm, its peace and its memories, so dear to us and so common to the history of all Canarians.<\/p>\n

Javier P\u00e9rez M\u00e9ndez<\/strong>
Great-grandson of B\u00e1rbara, grandson of Frasquita and son of Manola.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A family history that remains alive For more than a hundred years, La Ga\u00f1an\u00eda has been our family’s home.Today, we continue to care for it with the same love with which our ancestors built it, to share its peace and history with those who visit us. ABOUT US The soul behind La Ga\u00f1an\u00eda We are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4945","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nOur History | La Ga\u00f1an\u00eda Rural House<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover the history of La Ga\u00f1an\u00eda, a centuries-old family home in Los Realejos that has been renovated to continue welcoming guests.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casalaganania.es\/en\/our-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our History | La Ga\u00f1an\u00eda Rural House\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" 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