The first building permits were granted for Otrobanda ("the other side"), across the channel from Punda, in 1707. Construction was limited to warehouses and simple one story residences. Until then, the area only had a scattering of slave huts.

The first new buildings were along the harbor channel, and along the main avenues leading away from St. Annabaai. The buildings along Breedestraat were similar to those in Punda, with commercial space downstairs and living quarters on the upper floors. Breedestraat continues to be Otrobanda's main shopping street today and most of these original buildings still house shops.

Off Breedestraat the buildings were mostly residential. Eager for stately mansions that reflected their privileged position, the Dutch Protestant elite ignored the building restrictions and set out to create a splendorous residential neighborhood.

The Belvedere at Night - Otrobanda

Family comfort and style replaced commercial considerations. Because Otrobanda was never walled in, there was more room to expand. The spacious houses were often architecturally similar to the local country houses that were built around the same time. Many even had yards (an unheard of luxury in the cramped spaces of Punda), with separate servants' quarters along the borders of the property.

In contrast to the neat grid of Punda's first streets, Otrobanda was a maze of twisting streets and alleyways, giving the area its own intimate charm. By 1774, with 300 houses, Otrobanda was as big as Punda.

In the 18th and 19th centuries free blacks began to migrate to the city from the countryside. Some of the spacious Otrobanda yards were built over with more modest living quarters and small craft shops, forming the city's first working class neighborhood and urban center.

By the 20th century this section of Otrobanda had become a major cultural center for the rising black middle class. Many of the island's notable professionals, politicians, artists and musicians grew up in Otrobanda.

Middle Eastern merchants also settled here in the early 20th century. By the middle of this century the area had become a mirror of the island's rich ethnic diversity.