La Galería is a house that love built: Love of art, love of history and love of each other are the building blocks of Jan D'Esopo and Manuco Gandía's eclectic home/inn on Old San Juan's hill. A stone structure built circa 1700, its exterior has the air of a Tuscan farmhouse. But wander its winding halls and narrow wooden stairways, and you'll find modern sculpture perfectly at home in this historic setting.
D'Esopo is a Massachusetts native who came to Puerto Rico in 1961 to do renderings of colonial architecture as part of an urban restoration project.
Gandía is a Puerto Rican horseman who taught D'Esopo to ride. He learned to print silk screens and cast bronze for her paintings and sculptures. D'Esopo bought the house in 1961, and when they married, it became their studio.
''He was the bridge from what I wanted to do to what I did,'' she says as the couple sip wine on a patio, protected from city noise by thick stone walls.
Together they've bred horses, competed in international equestrian events, produced monumental art and become quintessential hosts.
They cast bronze in the studio and serve feasts in the banquet hall. Parrots, macaws and cockatoos keep sharp eyes on visitors. Paintings and figures in clay and bronze cover every surface. Rich fabrics swathe antique beds. The rooftop terrace enjoys a 360-degree view of Old San Juan and the harbor.
D'Esopo and Gandía's home is the inn of choice for visitors who want to experience the arts as well as sunshine.
''My house is a small inn, but it's still our home,'' says Gandía. ''We don't even have a sign in front. We don't need to. We let people find us and they do.''
Posted online 11/28/01.
