Jesualdo Riquelme y Fontes (+1789) was a patron of Francisco Salzillo and commissioned him to sculpt the famous Bethlehem which is now in the museum Salzillo of Murcia. He married his second wife, Concepción Fontes y Riquelme. Their son, Antonio Riquelme y Fontes (+1843), is thought to have commissioned the construction of Hacienda Riquelme at the end of the 18th Century or the first half of the 19th.

His son, Antonio Riquelme y Arce (+1861), I Marquis of Almenas, inherited it and improved its appearance with a garden in the style of the suburban estates of the mid 19th Century. When he died without an heir, ownership of the estate passed to his sister Maria Teresa Riquelme y Arce.

The main building is the manor house denominated Casón de Riquelme, which initially consisted of one storey to which a series of secondary buildings were added surrounding an enclosed central patio, which was later to be divided into two: labourers’ lodgings, stables, dovecots, water tanks, olive oil mills, barns, the use of which date back to the Roman Villas and Muslim hamlets.

As with other similar estates in the neighbouring areas such as Peraleja and Borrambla, the Casón grew and was adapted over time in the same way as the great haciendas and country houses of Andalucía.

The manor house is a large elongated construction consisting of two sections in a palace-like structure. At the end of the 1800s or the beginning of the 1900s the most important transformation was carried out, namely, the construction of the second storey and the characteristic tower, with the two heraldic coats of arms on the two facades of the building.

The coat of arms displays the ornamental figures that identify and distinguish the lineage Riquelme and the lineage Fontes, related by marriage. The helmet and crest of its minor shield over a field represent the warrior to whom they belonged, Guillén Riquelme. This distinguished warrior and noble knight accompanied King Alfonso X el Sabio (the Wise) on his conquest of Murcia and is considered the start of the Riquelme lineage.

In the mid-twentieth century the owner was the great-great-granddaughter of Maria Teresa Riquelme y Arce, Casilda de Bustos Figueroa, Duchess of Pastrana, who in 1929 married José María Finat y Escrivá de Romaní, Count of Mayalde and mayor of Madrid (see biographical notes at the end of the text).

The second half of the twentieth century marked the decline of the Hacienda Riquelme. An olive oil mill, which was in operation in the 40s is registered in the files of the old Delegación de Industria (Industry Delegation) but no longer appears in the 50s register. As dryland farm, production was limited to a few olive trees, cereals – only profitable if it rained enough - and esparto. To make it productive, the farm would have required major investments that were not forthcoming and finally it was leased to graze sheep and goats. The Cason was taken over by squatters and suffered serious damages.

Those years saw also the decline of Sucina that, especially from the 60s, experienced a major fall in population of almost 50%. The trend only began to change in the late twentieth century.

In the first decade of XXI century Polaris World bought the property and began building the vast estate which is known today as Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort. Between 2009 and 2010, following a meticulous historical and archaeological study and an analysis of the construction of the buildings and gardens, Polaris World undertook the restoration and rehabilitation work of the estate to permanently restore the Casón de Riquelme and recover it for use and enjoyment.