General Prim

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This house in Colonia Juárez, built in 1905 by engineer Alberto Robles Gil, is one of the great jewels of Porfirian-era architecture. Remarkably, the building once fell into abandonment. Every period it passed through and every different use it had is recorded in a palimpsest of colors and materials that remains extraordinarily well preserved today.

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Its generous courtyards and majestic staircases, soaring ceilings, and elegant finishes became, paradoxically, the grand setting for a modest glass warehouse in the 1970s. Its previous use was no more closely aligned with the character of the building: it served as the offices of La Tabacalera Mexicana de Cigarros Delicados, which rented the property from Fundación Dondé after the foundation acquired it in 1938.

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Looking more closely at Robles Gil, who lived in the house for more than thirty years, reveals the true scale of the place. The engineer was responsible for major public works across the country during a period of rapid growth. Important political agreements were signed in the house’s salons, which also hosted major receptions and dances.

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Today the house has recovered that celebratory spirit. Its major architectural interventions and remarkable landscaping embrace the poetry of the ruin. On the roof, a greenhouse designed by architect Alberto Kalach is perhaps the building’s only explicit dialogue with the contemporary.