US mansion where Obama stayed during Havana visit was 'built to impress'

The mansion in Havana where US President Barack Obama and his family spent two nights during their historic Cuba visit has survived war, revolution and an Albanian occupation.

Now, with US-Cuban diplomatic ties restored and overall relations warming, the US ambassadorial residence is re-emerging as a centre of influence on the Communist-ruled island.

Built from 1939 to 1942, the two-story building is more than half the size of the White House, according to US State Department data, and was constructed with the finest materials and craftsmanship of the time.

The United States abandoned it from 1961 to 1977 after the 1959 Cuban revolution overthrew a pro-American government and Washington severed ties with Fidel Castro, leaving the home to at first Albanian and later Swiss caretakers.

The coral limestone exterior and marble floors and columns are both imposing and inviting, said one man who lived there and likened it to the finest US ambassadorial residences in London or Paris or Buenos Aires.

“This is a place that was built to impress,” said John Caulfield, who was America’s chief diplomat in Cuba from 2011 to 2014 and inhabited the upstairs two-bedroom, two-bath residential suite with a living room.

The upper level also has four other large bedrooms with private baths, among them the presidential suite. The public and working areas are on the ground floor.