Casa d’Agua also known as Water House is a 19th
century serene architectural masterpiece erected beautifully on the asymmetric
chaos of Lagos Island.
Built by Joao Esan da Rocha and expanded by his son, Candido,
it was called Water House because Joao Esan dug a well at the backyard which
was used to sell pipe water to Lagosians.
Sitting on two streets- Kakawa and Candido Da Rocha, Lagos
Island, Water House is a Brazilian baroque which was built for a nuclear
family, but structural extensions included in the 1960s accommodated more
family members.
Da Rocha’s house is one of the few relics of
Nigerian-Brazilian heritage which reminds us of how enslaved Nigerians taken
across the Atlantic weathered the storm to make it back home.
The Water House had a borehole and the first water fountain
on Lagos Island; water was
sold from this house to consumers.
Chief Candido Joao Da Rocha, a native of Ilesha was a businessman,
landowner, and creditor who was born to the family of Joao Esan Da Rocha, a
former slave. His father was captured as a slave in 1840 and Candido was born
in the Bahia region of Brazil. Candido attended CMS Grammar School, Lagos where
he was peers with Isaac Oluwole, and Herbert Macaulay.
I am Qismat Aderayo Yinus a.k.a thatisaleekochick and I am
proud to celebrate one of Nigeria’s many historical treasures- Da Rocha’s Water
House!
Creative Director - @thatisaleekochick
Muse - @thatisaleekochick
Photography - @preskingshakur
Photos Edited by - @agababolaji
Styling - @ eshobyqismat
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