Casa Colorada

You are standing before the Casa Colorada, the "Red House", one of the finest colonial town houses left in Santiago. Its reddish colour gave it its name, and its owner made it part of the story of independence.

1The count's house

It was built between 1769 and 1779 for Mateo de Toro y Zambrano, a wealthy Creole merchant who gained the title of Count of La Conquista. The design is attributed to the Portuguese Joseph de la Vega. It was one of the first houses in Santiago with a two-storey facade, a bold novelty in a city battered by earthquakes.

On 18 September 1810, by then an old man, Toro y Zambrano presided over the First National Government Junta. That open town meeting marks the start of Chile's road to independence, which is why the country celebrates its national holidays on that date every year.

2From shopping arcade to museum

In the twentieth century the house fell on hard times: it became a shopping arcade with dozens of shops, suffered a fire in 1963, and there were even plans to move it stone by stone. In 1977 it was declared a Historic Monument, and since 1981 it has housed the Museum of Santiago. After damage in the 2010 earthquake, it reopened in 2024.

Its stone walls and oak beams have withstood more than two centuries of tremors in a city where almost nothing colonial survived.

3What to look for

• The stone base of the ground floor, against the red render above.
• The wrought-iron balconies over the windows.
• The central gateway, leading to the inner courtyards.