HISTORY This Caribbean-Aruban styled mansion was erected between 1922 and 1925. It contained the physicians' practice and private residence of Doctor Eloy Arends. Eloy Arends commissioned the construction of the building before his marriage to Maria Monica Lacle. Tradition in well-to-do families in Aruba at the time stipulated that on the day of his marriage a man had to present his wife a new and fully furnished house. The members of the Arends family had been living in Aruba since the middle of the nineteenth century, and as successful businessmen they were considered to be leading residents on the island. Eloy Arends, who had studied medicine in Amsterdam upon his return to Aruba, became the first official government physician, thus breaking with the family professional tradition. In social terms however he remained true to tradition, as many a social event and festivity was held at his residence at the Wilhelminastraat. The house could literally be considered an open house, as folding walls inside the residence allowed a flexible use of indoor spaces. Doctor Eloy Arends passed away in 1960, and his son Jesus Eloy Maria Arends took up residence in the manor, but would later rent the building as a restaurant. In 1986 the estate was sold to the government of Aruba, together with the adjacent Hotel Colombia building with the stipulation that both the buildings would be restored. Over the years the building fell into ruin and later the roof was destroyed beyond repair by a large fire, and only ruins remained. It was restored and combined with the Hotel Colombia building into a new complex, and currently houses a council hall and function spaces for the performance of among other things civil marriage ceremonies.