Las Palmeras, national monument of Chile

Las Palmeras is a residential building constructed in the 1920s in La Serena, characterized by its neoclassical architecture with fine wooden details and decorative molding. The house features an attractive facade with columns and ornamental windows, while its large courtyard shelters two old Canary palm trees that create a shaded garden space.

Gabriela Mistral bought the quinta in 1925 on returning from Mexico, near La Serena's lighthouse, as a home for her mother Petronila Alcayaga and half-sister Emelina Molina. She lived there only in 1925-1926 before becoming Chile's delegate to the League of Nations. The property was declared a Historic Monument in 1990, and repairs begun in 2013 with 204 million pesos from FNDR-BID opened it to the public.

Mistral bought the property in 1925 on returning from Mexico, intending it as a home for her mother Petronila Alcayaga and half-sister Emelina Molina, and as a retreat for herself; she lived there only between 1925 and 1926 before serving as Chile's representative to the League of Nations. Her original plan was to found an agricultural school on the grounds, which was never built. The house is now Hito 1 of the Ruta Mistraliana, and the Biblioteca Regional Gabriela Mistral was built on its land under a loan agreement between the Municipality of La Serena and Dibam.

The site is easy to reach from downtown La Serena by foot or a short trip and welcomes visitors during regular hours. The house functions as a museum with rooms that recreate daily life from the 1920s, and staff can guide visitors through the original spaces and explain the displayed objects and photographs.

The property belongs to the Municipality of La Serena, yet the drinking-water bills from Aguas del Valle are still issued in the poet's name, decades after her death. Mistral bought the quinta in 1925 near the city lighthouse, intending it as a home for her mother Petronila Alcayaga and half-sister Emelina Molina. Since 2013 it has been Hito 1 of the Ruta Mistraliana, and the Gabriela Mistral Regional Library was built on its rear grounds under a loan agreement between the municipality and Dibam.