A Self-guided Tour – Hacienda Cusin, a.d. 1602

This 1-2 hours tour begins in the Reception courtyard, facing Reception.

Looking right, and then from right to left, is the guardhouse and generator, followed by gift store, Casa Cusin, public bathrooms (toilets), Reception with Internet Café. To the left of Reception is a Squash Court (1990), once a milking shed, followed by a games room (ping-pong, pool- billiards, darts), (1990). The narrow corridor leads to the kitchens, staff dining room, laundry and carpenter’s workshop. Opposite Reception, is the Yapahuasi (Gift-house, Quechua) with guestrooms and family suites, 11-16. Its corridor was added to a previous corridor in 1990, filled in to make guestrooms in 1970. The Moorish-style blue tiles were copied from Cusin’s original tiles by Manuel Vega in 2003 Today’s Reception court cobblestones once clattered to the sound of horses, stabled in Yapahuasi. Each weekend, Sñra Piedad presents renowned Zuleta embroidery while Luz Maria Anrango, daughter of famous weaver Miguel Anrango, presents her crafts nearby.

Pass through the open iron gates and, to the left, walk past triple suite guestroom 18. To the right, beyond the patio (2003) divide, are blue entrance doors to the main house. One can enjoy a patio lunch of soup, sandwiches, coffee, cappuccinos, tea or drinks. Public bathrooms are available to the right.

MAIN HOUSE

Once in the main house: straight ahead, on a church altar, is San Pablo (Paul). On the stairway is Santa Barbarita, 18 th century, and a Flemish tapestry, perhaps depicting the 1571 battle of Lepanto. To your right, is Salon Bolivar and the diningroom and, left, past the bottom of the stairs, is the bar. The 1895 telephone, left of the bar entrance, was Cusin’s only shared line in 1990. Before a modern exchange was installed, San Pablo’s autocratic switchboard operator refused to connect foreign calls. After the burning of a New Year’s Eve effigy of her, she moved to Queens, New York City.

Facing the fireplace, from left to right, is a Peruvian manta (cloak or carry-all) from Titicaca, two Guatamalan huipiles (woman’s blouses); one from Chichicastanango, and over the fireplace, another from Solala, and at the far end, a Bolivian poncho (Titicaca). The white ‘masks’ are papier maché fiesta mask-molds from Riobamba. In 1991, Tigua artists from Quilatoa, South of Quito, created the bar painting of 19 th century north American artist Frederic Church’s imagined journey from Cusin (right) to Chimborazo (left). To the left of the exit are two bird prints by Paul Greenfield (Birds of Ecuador). To your right is brochure of Cusin, 1988.

Fabric, or textile, indicates wealth and social, military and religious rank. A manta, or aksu, was made by a woman on a back-strap loom. The loom represents a mountain, sacred and with human features. The dyed wool is intricately spun and woven; a complex engineering process Some of the finest examples of backstrap weaving can be found in Chincheros, Peru. After two strips have been completed, each the width of the room, they are sown together, worn over the shoulders, and fixed with a silver pin (tupu). The wearer represents the sacred mountain, and the manta is a landscape with mythical symbols.