As of November 2023, two of the workers listed in the records detailing the weekly roster of individuals employed in the construction of the chalet are still alive: Santiago Rodríguez Viera and Silvestre Francés López, both born in 1931. In March 2023, I had the opportunity to interview the latter, in the company of his son Rafael. Mr. Silvestre who started working on the house when he hadn't yet turned 16. His father and uncle, Silvestre, and José Francés Hernández, were also involved. In 1948, he worked on the road to Cofete. Upon turning 18, he had to join the military service (1949 – 1951), and after that, he returned to work on the construction of the chalet for two years more (1951 – 1953).
During the past few years (2021 – 2023), I've also interviewed several women —Juana Rodríguez Roger (1934), Concepción Francés Viera (1935), and Ramona Francés López (1935)— who, as teenagers between 15 and 17 years old, though not listed in the records, were involved in the construction. They carried stones in baskets used to build the walls of the house and the surrounding fence, cleared the land of stones in the “gavias” between the house and the beach, and worked on the road from Jorós to Cofete. Their parents, uncles, or cousins are listed in these records (highlighted in red for the first, in blue for Concepción's relatives, and in yellow for Ramona's). All of them spent their youth in Cofete, living witnesses to the construction of the chalet.
I've also interviewed many other individuals, younger members of the families who lived there in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, all witnesses to the construction:
- Lorenzo Roger Pérez (1937) was born and lived in Cofete during those years, while his father, Chano Roger Francés, worked on the construction of the house, Lorenzo took charge of herding and milking the cattle. He also cleared stones from the gavias below the chalet, in an area known as 'La Cerquita.’
- Aniceto Rodríguez Rodríguez (1947), opening the festivities of San Juan de Cofete ('A Child from Cofete,' 2022), remembered that when he was four or five years old, he would go with his mother to take food to his father, Manuel Rodríguez Miranda, and his older brothers, Manuel and Bernardo. Several of his uncles and cousins are also listed in the records.
A little girl bringing food in a basket for her father, who is a construction worker in the house. June 12, 1947
- Guadalupe Viera Rodríguez (1940) the girl in this photo from June 1947 carrying a basket with food for her father, Mr. Jorge Viera, and her brothers Juan and Pepe, who were working on the construction. She's not sure whether she's that girl or not, but she does remember also wearing a white hat.
I've also managed to gather testimonies from several descendants of families who lived in Cofete during those years, and whose parents or other relatives were involved in the construction of the chalet. This includes the descendants of Tomás Pérez Rodríguez —the large group of Pérez Saavedra siblings—. Moreover, their father acted as a witness in the agreement signed in October 1975 by Rafael Matos Viera's son ('Lillo') and my mother, Isabel Althaus. This agreement authorized him and several of his relatives to use part of the premises of the house. I've also gathered testimonies from the descendants of Ramón Viera Díaz, who grew up in Cofete during those years, including Maria and Juana Viera Saavedra, among others. All the individuals marked with a red arrow in the attached roster have direct relatives currently residing in Morro Jable or Cofete. Among them, naturally, are the children and grandchildren of José Concepción Hernández and Juan Concepción Villalba, the main supervisors of the construction. Marcial Arocha Rodríguez, although younger, has collected testimonies from his numerous and long-lived ancestors, on his mother’s side, who lived in Cofete during those years.
The testimony of the mentioned individuals, living witnesses of the construction of the chalet, allows us, along with plenty of documents provided on this website, to establish the period in which the house was built (1946 - 1954) and the absence of Nazi officials and military or submarine tunnels in Cofete.
