Casa de Fernando y Egeria González (1ra #205, e/ 2 y 4, Miramar, tel. 07/203-3866, egeria [at] finagri [dot] co [dot] cu, CUC35) is a superb property. This gracious family home offers two spacious and airy rooms with huge and exquisite tiled bathrooms. Secure parking is available and there’s a patio to the rear.

Casa de Clarisa Santiago (1ra #4407, e/ 44 y 46, tel. 07/209-1739, CUC30) is another excellent option, with an independent apartment in the rear patio. It’s modern throughout and has a nicely decorated bedroom with TV and fan, plus a bathroom with a small hot-water shower. A separate, well-stocked kitchen (by Cuban standards) has a tall refrigerator. There’s secure parking.

Inland, Casa de Elena Sánchez (Calle 34 #714, e/ 7ma y 17, tel. 07/202-8969, gerardo [at] enet [dot] cu, CUC100) is one of the nicest 1950s-style rentals in town. You rent the entire two-story modernist home. It has two rooms, each with TV, fridge, private hot-water bathroom, and a mix of antiques, 1950s modernist pieces, and contemporary furniture. A large TV lounge opens to a shaded garden patio with rockers. There’s secure parking.

Casa de María (3ra #37, esq. B, Miramar, tel. 07/209-5297, fffmiramar [at] yahoo [dot] com, CUC200 to CUC300) is a four-bedroom modernist home circa 1950s that’s rented out in its entirety. Downstairs it has a large TV lounge and separate dining room with period pieces. The two upstairs bedrooms, reached by a spiral staircase, each have a large marble-clad bathroom from the era, plus huge walk-in closet with wall safe. The rear garden even has its own swimming pool overlooking the mouth of the Río Almendares. It has secure parking.

If you want to know how Communist bigwigs live, check out Casa de Raquel y Carlos (7ma #21602, e/ 216 y 218, Siboney, tel. 07/271-4319, fax 07/469-5404, figueredos [at] hotmail [dot] com, CUC300 daily, CUC5,000 monthly). This fantastic modernist home, built in 1958 and confiscated when its original owner fled Cuba following the Revolution, is graciously furnished with rattan furnishings, original Tiffany lamps, plus paintings and eclectic items such as antique pistols.

The vast kitchen features contemporary appliances and would do Betty Crocker proud. It has two huge bedrooms, each with fabulous rattan king-size bed, large satellite TVs, and fans, plus humongous bathrooms with his and hers sinks. The vast garden has a swimming pool with heated whirlpool tub. How is all this permitted? Well, the owner is a former head of MININT, the Ministry of the Interior.

Others to consider include: Casa de Manuel de Armas Pérez (5ta #6607, e/ 66 y 68, tel. 07/203-7429, CUC50), a beautiful old home with a huge, pleasantly furnished, independent apartment with a patio and parking; Casa de Esther Rodríguez (5ta #8609, e/ 86 y 88, tel. 07/203-8480, CUC30), a 1950s home with one room simply furnished with period pieces, plus secure parking; Casa de Ana e Ismael (Calle 32 #101, esq. 1ra, tel. 07/202-9486, CUC120), a two-story 1950s home full of antique furnishings and enclosed in spacious, well-kept grounds with secure parking; and Casa de Alexis Tristá (5taB Av. #6612, e/ 66 y 70, tel. 07/203-2388 or 05/283-3392, angelad [at] infomed [dot] sld [dot] cu, CUC100 up to four people), a lovely home that rents an entire floor with kitchen and patio garden.