Photo : D.R.
Lying at the foot of the Cerro San Cristóbal hill in Santiago de Chile, Bellavista became a fashionable district for cultural and leisure pursuits in the 1990s. From morning to evening the city’s residents and lovers of Chile’s cultural heritage visit Bellavista’s shops, art exhibitions and restaurants serving cosmopolitan cuisine and when night falls, the area becomes a meeting place for trendy young people. Visitors can happily lose themselves in its little streets with their eclectic selection of brightly painted houses and scattering of middle-class residences: houses of character that bear witness to the district’s aristocratic past.
Located near the 400-hectare park of Cerro San Cristóbal, the lungs of the city, Bellavista was once prized for offering areas of peaceful bourgeois charm, well away from the bustling crowds. In 2006, during a visit to family members who had immigrated to Chile during the Second World War, Marc Cigana, A British entrepreneur of Australian origin, was wandering through this dynamic quartier, when he came face to face with one of the symbols of Bellavista’s golden age: a ruined mansion in the Spanish colonial style dating from the 1920s, standing in the middle of an abandoned garden.
Unoccupied for 15 years, the building’s sole caretaker was the family’s former nursemaid. It was love at first sight! Just two weeks after this unexpected encounter, Marc Cigana finalised the contract for this remarkable, though dilapidated house. He remembers signing the Promise of Sale on the way to the airport to catch his flight back to London. “I had no idea what I was going to do with this house, especially since it was not at all my intention to live in Chile. I didn’t even speak Spanish! What I was sure of was that I now possessed something very special.”
Seventeen lorry-loads of rubbish and two and a half years later, “the house is the most impressive in the district,” says its owner. Selling his London flat and property renovation company, Mark Cigana set out on an extraordinary, almost romantic adventure, doubtless largely inspired by the history of the house. Built in 1927 by the Duran family, a big Chilean political dynasty, the house hosted “the legendary political Thursday lunches” that started in the 1930s. Mark Cigana explains that “at the time, Domingo Duran was Minister of Transport and Construction. He was responsible for establishing rail links throughout the country. He later became Minister of Justice at a time when his brother, Julio Duran was a candidate for the Presidency of Chile. Every Thursday for decades to come, some thirty personalities from the world of politics and economics met at the Duran’s house for the famous lunches over which they discussed the development of major policies for the country, notably those in favour of the middle classes.” Visitors to the property can tell themselves they are treading the same corridors and mounting the same steps as Chilean President Arturo Alessandri Palma before them. The residence of the Durans was to be restored to its former glory.
A luxury boutique-hotel
Its former glory has been restored. Three million dollars later, the ruined house and the garden invaded by brambles have been transformed into a prestigious boutique hotel(1) : The Aubrey, the only one of its kind in Santiago, what’s more. The inauguration took place last October. Because it was built at the same time and by the same architect as the main building, Marc Cigana persuaded a friend of his, William Martin, to invest in the project by buying the neighbouring building, in order to link the two structures and to expand the available space. The renovation and reconstruction was masterminded by architects Alejandro Valdes and Cristóbal Amunátegui, who paid special attention to preserving the building’s priceless architectural and historic features. The damaged panelling was replaced by exact copies of the original elements. The sculpted wood, the wide guttering, and a neo-Renaissance style tower with a terrace have all been renovated according to the rules of the art by local craftsmen. For the interior, Luz Mendez, a well-known figure in European design circles, was hired to create a carefully thought-out, modern atmosphere in each of the hotel’s 15 bedrooms, almost all with a balcony or terrace. The parquet floors are made of precious woods such as eucalyptus, or stone from the Cerro San Cristobal quarry. A Chilean designer also contributed to the work. Especially for the new hotel, Santiago Valdes designed some of the furniture to stand alongside light fixtures and sofas by Tom Dixon, furniture designed by Andrew Martin in London, and Bizassa porcelain for the bathrooms equipped with elements by Duravit, Philip Stark and Hansgrohe. As for the garden, the former terraces have given way to an exotic and luxurious oasis, “we discovered stone arches ten metres high buried under the flank of the hill and even a second house that was also buried under the earth,” explained Marc Cigana. “Today, water flows from the arches and a Jacuzzi heated swimming pool provides the perfect finishing touch to the upper level of the exterior.” From September to May, the garden offers a marvellous area for The Aubrey’s guests to relax in. Guests can simply sip the famous Pisco Sour cocktail based on grape alcohol, but it would be a shame not to try the hotel’s own kitchens because Mark Cigana has pushed the boutique hotel concept to its very limits, giving his establishment an elegant Pasta e Vino restaurant under the direction of Veronica Alfageme, a chef internationally recognised for her other restaurant in Valparaiso. In passing, it is interesting to note that “Veronica Alfageme had received many offers to set up a new restaurant in Santiago, but she had declined them all. When she saw The Aubrey, the property seemed firstly to be remarkable and exclusive, but above all, her own parents had lived in the house at the back a long time ago and Veronica was reminded of times she spent here with her brother,” says Mark Cigana. Perpetuating the art of entertaining, savoir-vivre and fine dining must indeed be the destiny of the house of the Durans and its new proprietor.
(1) Urban situation, architecture and design, personal service.
Bookings
The Aubrey
Constitución 317,
Bellavista
Santiago, Chile
Tél.: (+56 2) 940 28 00
www.theaubrey.com
Principal Suites: 450 $
Hill Side Suites: 280 $
Traditional King: 240 $
Traditional Queen: 220 $
House Room: 185 $
Pasta e Vino
Pasta e Vino, the Aubrey’s restaurant, is directed by the chef Veronica Alfageme, who has already garnered an international reputation for her Valparaiso restaurant. The cuisine is Italian-inspired, but aims to be particularly creative, to the point where Pasta e Vino has become one of Chile’s most talked-about restaurants. The most demanding of palates, it would seem, have been won over. More than 7 types of gnocchi, and 17 kinds of ravioli, fettuccine and parpardelle are prepared by hand and served with creamy sauces, accompanied by a rigorous selection of more than 50 wines.
www.pastaevinoristorante.cl
English 
