Palacio Rivas, Historic site in Santiago, Chile.
Palacio Rivas is a Neorenaissance Italian-style mansion at the corner of Avenida Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins and San Martín, in Santiago's Barrio Dieciocho. Its restored facade retains carved stone details. Since 1993 an eight-story hotel volume cantilevers above the old house, which forms part of the Hotel Diego de Almagro.
Juan Francisco Rivas, a Chilean mining and agricultural entrepreneur, bought the site and commissioned Italian architect Eduardo Provasoli to build his mansion in 1887. After Rivas died, the house passed to Santiago Lyon Pérez, then to the Castagnetto Hnos. company and later to Aliro Montero Riveros and sons, who ran the Ferretería Montero there. The 1985 earthquake caused severe damage, and in 1992 the hardware firm sold the building to the Banco Hipotecario de Fomento Nacional. It was declared a National Monument in 1983.
The building's name recalls Juan Francisco Rivas, the mining and agricultural entrepreneur who commissioned it in 1887. After passing through several owners it housed the Ferretería Montero hardware store, and since 1993 the restored facade has fronted the Hotel Diego de Almagro.
The building sits at a major intersection and is easy to locate and reach on foot from surrounding areas. Since it is now part of a hotel, the exterior is usually accessible, but access to the interior may have restrictions.
The 1993 redevelopment by Sociedad Maifa Ltda. kept the original facade but added an eight-story volume cantilevered above it for the Hotel Diego de Almagro. The mansion had been left unused after the 1985 earthquake, and before that housed the Ferretería Montero.
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