Palacio Polanco, Historicist monument in El Almendral, Valparaíso, Chile

Palacio Polanco stands at the corner of Las Heras Street and Avenida Brasil in El Almendral, Valparaíso, on a 780 m² lot with 1,862 m² built over three floors and a basement. Its masonry structure carries a stucco facade, a galvanized steel roof, and late eclectic historicist ornament with pronounced neo-baroque elements: projecting bays, porticoes, railings, a central dome, and a corner tower. Inside are 6 salons, 16 rooms, and 6 suites, plus a kitchen, bar, and ballroom on the ground floor.

Benigno Polanco Humeres, a Chilean merchant, had the mansion built between 1901 and 1903 at Las Heras Street and Avenida Brasil, on land reclaimed from the sea. It withstood the 1906 Valparaíso earthquake. In April 1912 President Ramón Barros Luco acquired it for the fiscal police prefecture, and General Vargas and his family lived there; his daughter Maruja began her relationship with painter Camilo Mori around 1918. In 1942 it passed to the Carabineros de Valparaíso.

The building's name comes from Benigno Polanco Humeres, the merchant who commissioned it in 1901. From 1912 it housed the police prefecture, and General Vargas lived there with his family; his daughter Maruja, aged 17, began around 1918 a relationship with the painter Camilo Mori Serrano despite her father's opposition. Since 1986 it has served as the officers' casino of the Carabineros.

The palace is situated at a central location in El Almendral with good access from nearby streets. Visitors should be aware that some areas may be restricted, so it is worth checking conditions before planning a visit.

The building's survival is partly explained by its structure: masonry walls under a stucco facade, topped by a galvanized steel roof, with plaster and wood elements. The sandy fill of El Almendral, reclaimed from the sea, brought down other palaces in 1906.