The name is Spanish for "Country House," and it was originally a retreat for Charles Bluhdorn, who built his estate in 1975 on Gulf+Western's sugar mill property, Central Romana. When he died in 1983, it became the first resort in the country. 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, bought Casa and opened it to paying guests.
Golf course
Golf architects Pete and Alice Dye have had a home at Casa de Campo since the early 1970s, when they guided 300 local laborers with machetes to blaze the Diente del Perro, through the jungle and along a rocky coast. The course served as a backdrop for the 1971 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. It remains the only Caribbean course consistently in the world's top 100 courses. The Links Course and the members-only La Romana Country Club are inland layouts spiced with lakes. Dye's newest course, the much-acclaimed Dye Fore, skirts cliffs above the Chavón River, with views of the village of Altos de Chavón, distant mountains and the new marina. Dye recently completed another course on the plateau next to Dye Fore, called the Dye Fore Lakes.
Villas and marina
There are two types of villas that can be owned: "punto de villas" own only the land, with parking lots and landscaped spaces as common areas. "Villas con solar proprio" have ownership of an entire area, which includes parking lots and the landscape. About 10% of the residences at the resort are low-rise condos in buildings no higher than four levels. About 70% of the properties are large estates. Casa de Campo has over 1,700 private villas, which range in price from US$500,000 to US$24,000,000, making it also one of the countries' most affluent communities, comparable to the Hamptons. Completed in 2000, Casa de Campo has a modern, 400-berth marina, complete with a shipyard with a 120-ton TraveLift designed by Italian architect, Gian Franco Fini to resemble Portofino. Surrounding this harbor are over 70 restaurants, shops, bars, and homes. In 2010, the Casa de Campo Marina played host to the Rolex Farr 40 sailing cup.
