House of Velasco . Historical property from the 18th century , colonial style, located in the center of Santiago . It was declared a National Monument in 1981 .
Summary
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- 1 Location
- 2 History
- 3 Architecture
- 4 National Monument
- 5 See also
- 6 Image Gallery
- 7 sources
Location
Located on the corner of Santo Domingo and Mac Iver streets in downtown Santiago de Chile .
History
The building stands on land granted in 1556 to the conqueror Esteban Hernández by the Cabildo de Santiago. After several owners, in 1730 Juan de Abaitúa built a one-story mansion of adobe and tile . At the beginning of the 19th century , José Antonio Rodríguez Aldea, its new owner, made other modifications, and one of its last owners was José María Velasco, from which the name of the building comes, since his children turned it into a cultural landmark of Santiago. The Velasco’s had no offspring and in 1928, the first patio of the house was bought by Chilectra, a company that was in charge of its restoration, adding a balcony along the façade.
After the 1985 earthquake , the house suffered various damages and in 1990 it was taken on loan by Senator Gabriel Valdés on behalf of the Senate . In 1991 the Department of Architecture of the MOP hired the architects Juan Echeñique and José Cruz Ovalle for its complete restoration. The Chilean Senate occupied the house until 2001 , the year it became the property of the Constitutional Court, occupying it until 2012 .
On August 5, 2014 , National Property coordinated the delivery of Casa Velasco to the Sociocultural Directorate for its heritage use. Since MarchIn 2019 , the entire house has been the headquarters of Fundación Artesanías de Chile.
In December 2016 , the Ministry of Education of Chile , through decree No. 363, set the limits of the historic building in order to help its conservation in the face of the expansion of new constructions in the central part of Santiago de Chile.
Architecture
Despite the number of renovations it has undergone over time, its original typology remains intact and responds to the typical floor plans of Spanish colonial buildings. This building has two floors and three patios.
National Monument
The property was declared a National Monument of Chile, in the category of Historical Monument, through Supreme Decree No. 6006 on September 19 , 1981 .
