Casa Napper

Meet Thomas / Casa Napper

Last modified: October 30, 2022

You can book your stay at Casa Napper with NovelaCuba.

At whose house?
Thomas Verwarcht. Thomas is a Belgian architect. He put his signature on this house.

Where is it?
In the Vedado.

How?
Thomas redesigned Casa Napper with his Cuban partner. “It was a ruined house from 1918, rather modest. We added a floor and went a long way to make it a concept house. The addition gave it a real character.”

The spirit of the place
A museum house, an antique dealer’s house. That’s what Thomas is aiming for. “There is the feeling of an extraordinary place, with a certain strangeness created by the hanging of works by an artist friend, works of great originality.” Indeed, the Argentinian artist Henrique Rottenberg was given carte blanche to decorate the house with both his works and a very personal selection of decorative pieces.

Service
Thomas wanted the quality of service to be high, with particular attention to detail, such as the tableware. There is a focus on tableware in keeping with the spirit of the antique house. It is an intimate house. There are few staff, which gives it that feeling of intimacy, of being at home, that Thomas likes so much.

The best time
“In the evening, when we turn on the little lamps on the table in the garden. The neighbourhood becomes quiet. It’s the perfect time to pour yourself a rum, smoke a cigar.

The best place
The master suite. It is particularly comfortable and spacious with its living room, four-poster bed, large bathroom and a beautiful balcony with a view of the street, an invitation to contemplate. For Thomas “this view brings something even more soothing.”

Carte blanche
When Thomas and his partner gave the key to Casa Napper and carte blanche to Henrique Rottenberg, the Argentinean artist took possession of the premises. For a fortnight he decorated the house completely and transformed it. “It’s not at all what I would have done,” Thomas laughs to this day. He added a nice touch of eccentricity. He turned this classic bourgeois house into a unique and unclassifiable place!

Thomas dreams of setting up a bakery and thus of combining the antique atmosphere, which he would like to accentuate, with the gourmet side.

When you leave the house…
You’ll find shopkeepers, middle-class houses and small buildings of three or four floors. This part of Vedado is a bit more popular, full of life. A nice balance between this residential side and the lively side.

Sabine Bouvet
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For Novela Cuba, this freelance journalist gives voice to those who receive you. She paints house portraits and serves up slices of Cuban life. In search of places near or far and inspiring encounters for travel, lifestyle, adventure, and publishing press; Sabine shows the beauty of the world and highlights those who protect it.

Follow her look on Instagram @sabine.bouvet

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