When I was in Havana, Cuba, I was fascinated by all the buildings.  Some were new or well-kept, but most were in some sort of decay.  The below picture shows what we saw the most.  Well-kept homes next to or even attached to the decay of time.  To me, there is a fascinating story to tell.  

Why is one half beautiful and the other half in disrepair and decay?  Does the same person own both halves and just hasn’t had time to fix the other side?  Or does someone else own the other side and isn’t taking care of it?  Or is there even someone living on the other side of the house?  How frustrating that must be as a homeowner.

One of the interesting stories that we heard from our tour guide is what happened with the homes after the Cuban Revolution.  Many people fled and left their homes empty.  We were told the new communist government didn’t take the homes and assign people to live there as Westerners might have imagined. Instead, the servants who worked in the homes took them over.  They or their descendants still own these homes.  It’s easy to appreciate the architecture of Havana, but Cuba is hard to get to know.