Want to buy a Spanish Hacienda Style Home? Want to know what goes into making a Spanish Hacienda? Our guide to Spanish Haciendas gives you the facts & information you want to know.
Hacienda in Spanish literally means an estate. These were mostly prevalent in the Spanish colonies where the lords and the masters resided. The Spanish Haciendas were vast but they were not always a ranch. Some of them were for commercial purposes also. They were built to oversee plantations, mines and many other commercial, agricultural and pastoral activities. Also there were many Spanish Haciendas that used to combine all these activities over vast pieces of land. Today these are looked upon as posh and wealthy places of living.
The Spanish Haciendas in Argentina and New Mexico were a large system of land holdings by the colonialists. These served as a mark of status for their owners. The Spanish Haciendas were generally associated with wealthy people or even with nobility. There were no courts that would govern the Spanish Haciendas. The profits were owned by the people directly running them. They were like a society within themselves with various different sections. The owners of the Spanish Haciendas were called patrons. The lowest class or the workers were called the peons. Also there were the campesinos who worked in the ranches. The economic system relied mostly on bartering and very little money was circulated on the Spanish Haciendas.
Spanish Hacienda Style Homes
There are some similar characteristics that define Spanish Haciendas. Some of the common features were the lavish decorations that were included in the houses. The front walk to the house was always decorated with Spanish style pillars. There were fountains along the pathway with beautiful architecture. Also there were fountains in the courtyard that were longer. The house had rock retaining walls that covered the back. These were decorated with flowerbeds. Various flowerbeds were also found in the gardens. Through out the home there existed a lot of detailed rock work. Every thing in the house was accurately detailed and a lot of time was invested in taking care of the minor details of the house.
The Catholic Church and its orders were gifted large holdings of Spanish Haciendas. This linked the interests of the church with the rest of the land holding class. Also this was the main reason for hostility towards the church in Mexico and other Latin American countries. The Spanish Haciendas existed in all countries that were colonized by Spain. It became a cultural mark of Spain that it left behind when it colonized countries that became imprinted in the cultures of the country.
