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Corsica & Coffee
The stories of Coffee and Corsica come together at Hacienda Masini.
PUERTO RICO
18°N 67°W
9,104 km2
1,340 m (4,390 ft)
San Juan (pop. 2,350,126)
Taino 1000AD to 1500
Spain 1500’s to 1898
USA 1898-present
CORSICA
42°N 9°E
8,722 km2
2,706 m (8878 ft)
Ajaccio (pop. 63,723)
Roman 500BC to 1100AD
Genoa 1100-1700
France 1700-present
The Corsican Migration
Political turmoil and Spanish opportunity enticed many Corsicans to immigrate to Puerto Rico in the 19th century. Spain’s Royal Decree of 1815 offered Spanish and French settlers interior lands in Puerto Rico in hopes of supporting their colonial empire.
Rio Yauco, 1900’s
Yauco, P-R. Corsican Town. Coffee Town.
Brought to Puerto Rico in 1736, coffee rapidly fueled colonization in the highlands, Yauco, new and new customs based on its agriculture, production, and celebration. It
Corsicans settled the remote and rugged highlands above Yauco and helped pioneer the island’s coffee industry, helping Yauco become an early colonial center for culture and global coffee commerce.
Yauco, 1910’s
150 Years & Counting
The Masini family emigrated to the remote Rubias highlands above Yauco in 1857 and has been producing coffee ever since.
This is its Story…
Brothers Domingo Felipe (1834-1899) and Pablo Francisco (1844-1909) Pietri emigrated to Yauco from Olmeta-di-Capocorso, Corsica in 1857 and 1868 to settle lands offered to supporters of the Spanish Crown. Domingo Masini Pietri (1869-1928) and Juan Masini Pietri (1873-1937) followed their uncles from Corsica to Yauco in the 1880’s to help their uncles manage the farm that would become Hacienda Masini.
The architectural 'bones' of the present Casona are largely unchanged from the house you see in this photo, taken sometime 1920’s. Notice the roof.. Hurricane Felipe Segundo removed it in the late 1920’s, however, the house itself survived and was fitted with its more structurally-sound current roof.
The Corsican immigrants' skillfully adapted European carpentry to island terrain and materials and built strong structures well suited for the highlands' extreme conditions. In 1924 Juan Masini Pietri cofounded the Cooperativa Cafeteros de Yauco to improve Yauco caficultores' resources, quality, and conditions for coffee culture.
As coffee modernized into the late 20th century, it spurred a second coffee technological revolution: new technologies, heated dryers, power sources, synthetic fertilizers, and chemical weed and pest controls all pushed productivity, but could not overcome challenges of depopulation, disease, and global labor shifts.
In the 1960's the farm began to expand its nursery operations, developing practices and expertise that have ensured Hacienda Masini is at the forefront of quality and innovation. Now the farm is pivoting to total agriculture, expanding into agroforestry to integrate food and other valued crops into the farm's existing systems, hoping to help the island with food and resource independency.
At the close of the 20th century, the farm faced challenges of disease, decay, management, and coffee viability. Starting in 1996, Angela Masini took ownership and began conservation and agricultural factions, began the current charge starting in 1996
In bad repair and no longer used, guest quarters and processing space was deconstructed and salvaged to repair other damaged sections. The preservation of this legacy requires skilled craftspeople, endemic materials, and commitment to sustaining original techniques and practices.
In 2017 the farm was on track to realize its most significant yields in decades when Hurricane Maria destroyed nearly everything. In addition to near total loss of all plants, hundreds of landslides wiped out water and power lines and prevented access to harvest damaged crops. We are thankful to our neighbors and friends who have helped us regain footing after Maria.
Today, Hacienda Masini operates as a highland center for enlightened coffee research, culture, and community. By combining conservation with experimentation, Hacienda Masini is helping grow a resilient future for Puerto Rico. We are actively experimenting with soil conservation, erosion control, coffee agro-forestry systems, climate-smart coffee, and education.
The main casona is the heart of the farm. It consists of a lower coffee processing infrastructure and an upper formal house, welded ingeniously into a living, processing, and operations center for seven generations of coffee culture.
In 2021, the upper house will be opened for extraordinary stays. Receive notice by signing up here.
Today, Hacienda Masini operates as a specialty coffee nursery and producer, growing plants for area farmers and producing small batches of specialty coffee with commitment to the highest standards in product quality, fair practices, and land stewardship.
"La Ruta Lenta..." Hacienda Masini embraces slow tourism and its ideas and approaches to sustainable tourism. We support an experience that integrates destination with travel and approach, and conservation with education and recreation.
The bones of the present Casona are largely unchanged from the house you see in this photo, taken early 1920’s.
Notice the roof.. Hurricane Felipe Segundo removed it in the late 1920’s, however, the house itself survived and was adapted to its more structurally sound present roof.
Emigration
Brothers Domingo Felipe (1834-1899) and Pablo Francisco (1844-1909) Pietri emigrated to Yauco from Olmeta-di-Capocorso, Corsica in 1857 and 1868 to settle lands offered to supporters of the Spanish Crown.
Domingo Masini Pietri (1869-1928) and Juan Masini Pietri (1873-1937) followed their uncles from Corsica to Yauco in the 1880’s to help their uncles manage the farm that would become Hacienda Masini.
Exploitation
The Corsican immigrants were skilled carpenters and built strong structures in the highlands suited to extreme conditions.
This inventive and careful craftsmanship is one reason Hacienda Masini’s Casona, constructed 1860’s, has survived major hurricanes, earthquakes, insects & decay.
in 1924 of the Cooperativa Cafeteros de Yauco
Renewal
Restoration of Hacienda Masini’s architecture and infrastructure legacies, initiated 1992, continues today...
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150 Years of Cooperative Coffee Culture & Counting
American Colony
In 1898, the United States took possession of Puerto Rico from Spain, opening a new chapter of culture and trade.
Coffee modernized in the late 20th century and faced challenges of depopulation, disease, and neo-liberal labor shifts.
American Colony
In 1898, the United States took possession of Puerto Rico from Spain, opening a new chapter of culture and trade.
Coffee modernized in the late 20th century and faced challenges of depopulation, disease, and neo-liberal labor shifts.
Corsican Migration
Spanish leyes laws. collapse of Corsican independence. two islands. coffee..?
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Yauco
highlands. Paris of the east. epicenter of PR coffee. shield. stairs.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Preserving a Legacy
Restoration of Hacienda Masini’s architecture and infrastructure legacies, initiated 1992, continues today...
Early Stewards
pioneering soil conservation. agroforestry research.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Today
Hacienda Masini operates as a highland center for enlightened coffee research, culture, and community
Resilient Agro-Ecologies
Today, Hacienda Masini operates as a highland center for enlightened coffee research, culture, and community. By combining conservation with experimentation, Hacienda Masini is helping build a more resilient future for Puerto Rico.
We are actively experimenting with soil conservation, erosion control, coffee agro-forestry systems, climate-smart coffee, and education.
We are actively experimenting with soil conservation, erosion control, coffee agro-forestry systems, climate-smart coffee, and education.
Slow Tourism
La Ruta Lenta. An idea and approach to sustainable tourism. Imagining an experience that integrates travel, arrival, and destination.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
A Legacy of Production
Seven generations of producing coffee for island farmers.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Looking to the next 100 Years
Our story continues through attention to our critical legacies, culture, and environment…
Corsican Migration
Spanish leyes laws. collapse of Corsican independence. two islands. coffee..?
Applying Research
Hacienda Masini actively supports research on highland coffee, environment, and culture