Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic

In 1975 Gulf+Western developed 7,000 acres (28 km) of its Central Romana sugar mill's land into the Casa de Campo resort. Situated in La Romana on the southeast coast of the Dominican Republic, Casa de Campo (Spanish for "Country House") is a Ponderosa-style, tropical seaside resort. The first to enjoy the luxuries of this enclave were friends of the late Charles Bluhdorn, Gulf+Western’s founder and CEO, who built the retreat. One of Bluhdorn's Dominican friends, Oscar de la Renta, was hired to do interior design for Casa De Campo. After Bluhdorn's death, the Cuban-American Fanjul family (the world’s top sugar barons), bought Casa and opened it to paying guests. Without compromising the feeling of exclusivity, they’ve developed it into...