“the inevitable permanent end of all things”
Casa De Fernandez was built in 1846 to serve as both the home of the family and the slave house of Afro-Brazilian slave trader, Mr Fernandez. It had a roof terrace that was used for hosting parties and a backyard that was used for storing slaves to be sold or punished.
After the abolishment of the slave trade, the house was sold to an auctioneer, Andrew Thomas, a Yoruba man who resold it to Mr Alfred Ọmọ́lọ́nà Ọláìyá on March 9, 1933. The house was passed on to his son, Daniel Adegbite Ọláìyá, upon his death and Daniel named it Ìlọ́jọ̀ Bar in 1936 after Ìlọ́jọ̀ village in Ìjẹ̀ṣa-Iṣu Èkìtì where his father was from.
On the 5th of April, 1956, the Colonial Government declared the Ìlọ́jọ̀ Bar a national monument in the National Monument Gazette 25; Volume 43 and it was used as a post office until 1972.
Since then, it has been a partly residential and partly commercial building serving as home to members of the Ọláìyá family, a restaurant and bar, and shops for traders.
On the 11th of September, 2016, the Ìlọ́jọ̀ Bar was torn down with approval from the office of the Lagos State Physical Planning agency in a letter dated April 29, 2016 (Ref. No. LASPPPA/2015/DPD/029), addressed to the deceased owner of the house, Mr Alfred Ọmọ́lọ́nà Ọláìyá.
Images were shot in 2015 and 2019