Casa Winter cofete.

[classic]

This appears to be some new info that some may be interested in. 
www.casawintercofete.com

[Cotillo_Tom]

A fantastic website full of great factual information and tries hard to dispel loads of rumors about the purpose of the building.  Also some great historical photos that show week by week progress with the building work.  

Thanks for the link Sue.  

Tom.

[GSDGirl]

Is there a link to translate into English as I would like to read this.

[Cotillo_Tom]

I use Google Chrome browser and have set it to translate Spanish to English.  Depends on which browser you use, but most have a translate option hidden deep in settings.  

Tom.

[classic]

with mine, if you open in google chrome, then right click there is a translate  option on that menu.

[Johnrgby]

[color=var(--heading-color, var(--heading-2-color, var(--headings-color)))]Documented history of the construction of the Winter House
This autumn of 2021 marks two significant anniversaries for us: the centenary of the birth of our mother, Isabel Althaus (3/10/1921), and the fifty years since the death of our father, Gustav Winter (23/11/1971). After this, articles and reports began to appear; later "documentaries" or "research" programs and, in recent years, and exponentially, so many comments on social networks, stories, legends ...
The theme: it is considered that the house was a supposed base of German submarines during World War II or a mansion where parties were held with important Nazi officers or, later, a place of refuge for them.
Its origin: the house of Cofete, known as "the house of the Winter" or as "Villa Winter" -although for the inhabitants of Jandía, and for the family, it has always been known as "the villa of Cofete"-
It seems to us that it is time to expose a series of documents (letters, budgets, contracts, periodic reports on the works, plans, photos) that "speak" for themselves of the birth of that house, its construction and the vicissitudes of it, the origin of the materials used and how they were transported to Cofete. Dated weekly statistics are also shown, which include the list of the people who participated in the work and the wages they received.
The examination of all this documentation allows us to follow in detail the entire construction process and reveals that:
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• The first steps were taken at the end of 1941: once its location was decided, the works prior to the foundation began, such as clearing and excavation, taking into account the profile of the land where the house is located, a slope that descends from the mountain to the beach. Then the foundation work began, which was interrupted a few months later, at the beginning of 1942.
  
• In October 1946, with the arrival in Cofete of Master D. Juan Concepción Villalba, from Lanzarote, the foundation work resumed. Once this was completed, during the year 1947 the structure of the main body of the house was raised (basement, load-bearing walls, arcades, etc.) and the interior partition was made, creating with it the bedrooms, living room, dining room, library, etc. and in the last months of that year the tower was built. The documentation we provide (complemented by a detailed photographic record of each step of the construction) shows us the weekly progress of the same during that year 1947 of intense work.
  
• From 1948 the work slowed down, focusing on the coatings and finishes, both interior and exterior and on the realization of the installations and carpentry. In 1951 the sloping roof was raised, with a tile finish (1952). The work lasted until 1954. No end date can be set, as the project was never actually completed. The family never lived in that house, but established their residence in Morro Jable.
  

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A biography of Gustav Winter will not be presented on this page. But, as a promoter of the house, it is necessary to make a brief review to place it there and know synthetically how he came to be interested in the place, the project he planned to develop and how he obtained the property -Background section of this website-.
One of the great difficulties in the construction of the villa lay in the non-existence, until the end of 1951, of a road that would allow the transport of the necessary materials. The Accesses section shows the various ways to do this from ancient times to the present day.
The main section of this page collects the documented history of the Construction process.
In the section The life of the House we expose the most relevant facts in relation to it: who has inhabited it and its successive owners.
Finally, in the section Submarines and other myths, a series of documents are provided in relation to these.
Almost 20 years have passed since my first and, until this year, the only time I have published something in the press ("La leyenda de Cofete", La Provincia, January 17, 2002. Gustavo Winter Althaus). Then I expressed the feeling of helplessness and pessimism to deny such a widespread legend, with stories lacking documentary foundation of any kind that give veracity to these claims. I still think the same thing.
How have these stories been written? All part of a solitary house in the middle of an overwhelming place, of a particular beauty. Its owner: a person of German origin. From these wickers begin speculations and rumors, stories are invented, another writes a novel and many repeat what they heard and add new stories, without any documentary basis. Appearances play in favor and history gains followers. Hearing a story several times makes us all more likely to believe it, even if it's false. We are prone to believe that which confirms our prejudices. That's all? Is that enough? Any evidence?
Los seres humanos tendemos a la fabricación de leyendas y mitos y somos poco amigos de verificarlos. En vez de eso, repetimos: “se dice que …”; o “a decir de muchos …” ¿Es eso suficiente? Y los autores de reportajes sensacionalistas, en general, no se molestan en investigar: lo que les importa es vender y cuanto más espectacular es el texto y los titulares, mayor audiencia.
Cuando una leyenda está tan extendida probablemente resulta inútil esgrimir argumentos en su contra. La mayoría de las personas no está dispuesta a prescindir de una historia si esta es atractiva o satisface el morbo. Están blindadas contra la realidad. No creemos que con este paso que damos ahora vayan a desaparecer. Nuestro propósito al exponer estos documentos es facilitar que, todos aquellos que han oído o leído las diferentes historias sobre la casa y la familia, puedan tener también otra perspectiva: la historia de la construcción de la casa basada en documentos.[/size]

Rafael, Gabriel, Juan Carlos and Gustavo Winter AlthausRedaction
and edition: Gustavo Winter AlthausNovember
2021

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The House today
[color=var(--heading-color, var(--heading-2-color, var(--headings-color)))]About the material we exhibit
The fact that during the first two years of construction of the house, between October 1946 and August 1948, Gustav Winter resided in Madrid allows us to have a detailed, unusual report of a construction process, especially that relating to the year 1947, during which the works were accelerated and in which practically weekly he received reports of the state of the construction, accompanied by photographs of it, to which he responded by sending new indications accompanied by the corresponding plans, directing the building.
One of the main sources that allows to follow in detail the construction of the villa of Cofete is the correspondence maintained between March 1946 and August 1948 (date on which Gustav Winter moves to Jandía definitively) between:[/size][/color]

• Mr. Arturo Kamphoff, agent and representative of Dehesa de Jandía S. A. in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
  
• Mr. Guillermo Schrauth, representative in Jandía and
  
• Gustav Winter, tenant of the estate, who during that period resided in Madrid.
  

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The letters sent by Mr Arturo Kamphoff (hereinafter AK) or by Mr Guillermo Schrauth (hereinafter GS) to Madrid were nominally addressed to Mr Manuel Girona, owner of the Dehesa de Jandía S. A., friend and partner of Gustav Winter (hereinafter GW), but in reality it was he who received and replied to them.
Each of them sent numbered and signed letters and kept a copy, usually unsigned, for archiving. Some of these letters were deposited in the existing archives in Jandía; others come from GW folders when he lived in Madrid. Depending on the file from which the letters we present come, either from the one located in Jandía, or from gw's personal archive, there are signed originals that had been received or unsigned copies of the letters that were sent.
In addition, correspondence with other interlocutors is shown: quantity surveyor, suppliers, as well as other documents: contracts, invoices, plans, photos, etc.
As the letters, budgets, reports of the evolution of the construction, stadillos in which the hired personnel appear, etc., are written on onion paper, very thin, when scanning documents of two or more stapled pages, the text of the following sheet can be slightly translucent.
All the material is presented without any modification in its current state of conservation. With regard to the photos, some correspond to the digitization of original negatives that have been preserved; on the other hand, others are digital copies of photos of which we do not have negatives.
THANKS
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[GSDGirl]

Thanks everyone, like most people, have always been fascinated by that place. Great advice on how to translate – every day's a school day

[Ratowow]

FYI: In the meantime the whole website is also available in english:

https://www.casawintercofete.com/en/

A very comprehensive resource, have spent hours of reading texts, PDFs, looking at all those photos, best website ever about Villa Winter in Cofete.