Pirque, located in the prestigious wine-growing area of the Maipo Valley, is a very important place in the history of Chilean wine. Here is where the House and Park of the property called “Casas del Llano de Pirque” is located, which on July 26th of the year 1971 was declared a National Historic Monument by Supreme Decree 1749.
The house, which was designed by the German-born architect Teodoro Burchard, would have been commissioned in 1875 by the founder of Concha y Toro, Melchor de Concha y Toro, and his wife, Emiliana Subercaseaux Vicuña. It was precisely in 1881 that this couple decided to invest in the wine business, import Bordeaux vines, build a winery, and hire a French winemaker to make fine wines, transforming this place into what would soon be Concha y Toro Winery. But it was not until 1923 that it went from being a family business to a limited company.
“The Casona and the Park passed to the Concha y Toro company in 1994. Now the mansion is used for corporate visits and some private tours. It is the most exclusive tour that we are managing at the moment, the The Don Melchor Collector’s Experience, where after visiting the entire mansion, they go to a very modern technical tasting room with professionals, where they taste the current vintage of Don Melchor, Chile’s first icon wine”, says Juan Carlos Lisoni, Hospitality Manager of Concha y Toro since 1988.
In addition to the 22-hectare garden and park, which is in very good condition, this National Heritage is very important for its architecture. Well, it is a residence with Italian characteristics, but with the personality of the old Chilean farmhouses. “The mansion is very big, it has 4,000 m2 built, 6 lounge rooms with all their original furniture, 22 bedrooms and a 22-hectare garden and park in great condition. It is a beautiful property that is worth seeing, because in this country there are very few houses from the 19th century left in such perfect conditions”, adds Lisoni. Also, it stands out for its high ceilings, neoclassical façade, two large front porticoes, interior patios, large windows and corridors supported by double columns. Its location in the highest sector of the land gives it a privileged view of the vineyards, gardens and the Andes Mountains.
When “Casas del Llano de Pirque”; was acquired by the new owners of the vineyard in 1993, improvements were made to the mansion, among which the decorator Francisco Monge made the recoveries of the interiors, changing wallpapers and reupholstering with special fabrics. Undoubtedly, a space that is worth visiting once in a lifetime.