Buena Vista/Frontera - Las Marias
There were two haciendas Buena Vista both owned by different Frontera families, Hacienda Buena Vista in Barrio Indiera Baja of Maricao and this one in Las Marias. Hacienda Buena Vista in Maricao was established ca. 1870 by Spanish immigrant from Mallorca, Spain Bartolomé Mora. When Mora returned to Spain ca. 1892 he left the hacienda to Juan G. Frontera Ripoll whose parents Bartolomé Frontera Ballester and Maria Ripoll Castañer always remained in Spain as well.
This Hacienda Buena Vista was also established ca. 1870 by Spanish immigrant Ramón Frontera Rullán whose parents Amador Frontera Pons and Maria Rullán Frontera always remained in Spain. Ramón Frontera Rullán married Catalina Bernat, their son Antonio Frontera Bernat (1906-1993) inherited the property and operated it into the 1960s. Antonio Frontera Bernat is the father of well known basketball player Jaime Frontera Colley who played basketball for the short lived Mayagüez Knickerbockers and the Arecibo Captains in the PR Amateur League (Liga de Baloncesto Superior Aficionado de PR) from 1957 to 1973. Ramón was the nephew of Ramón Frontera Pons who owned Haciendas Llanada in Lares and Haciendas Balear, Hacienda Santiaga and Hacienda Unión in Maricao. Even though both the Drontera Rullán and Frontera Ripoll families hailed from the island of Mallorca, there is no known immediate family relationship between them.
In the court case Schulze & Co. in Liquidation vs. Sucn. Castro decided by the Mayagüez District Court on October 22, 1902 and reaffirmed by the Puerto Rico Supreme Court on May 19, 1904, it is stated that "...by means of a deed dated May 12, 1823 Jaime Soler sold to Miguel Agostini 800 cuerdas of land located in the site known as Naranjales from which cuerdas 4 haciendas known as Tres Hermanos, Merle, Plato Indio and Buena Vista were formed..." There is no information on the Hacienda Buena Vista referred to in the court case but it is reasonable to believe that this Hacienda Buena Vista is not the one mentioned in the court case. Although both are within the boundaries of the municipality of Las Marias, this hacienda is in Barrio Barrio Buena Vista, east of the town of Las Marias, as opposed to Barrio Naranjales which is southwest of town.
The surviving structure of this hacienda consist two buildings and the Manor House which has been remodeled. One is a masonry structure used for storage and the other a two story wooden structure used for machinery and dwelling.