Earlier this month on la Noche de los Museos I had the chance to go inside the Casa Fernández Blanco (not to be confused with the building that is the Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernández Blanco, which is in an entirely different place that also is well worth visiting). The Casa is located at Hipólito Yrigoyen 1420, just behind the wonderful La Inmobiliaria building on Av de Mayo.

From the exterior the casa Fernández Blanco doesn’t look much different than most of the other buildings on the street. Indeed, it’s easy to forget that this street, formerly named Victoria, was for a time one of the major streets in the city. That was before Av de Mayo was constructed. Now, it’s very easy to forget about this street nestled behind the beautiful buildings of Av de Mayo.

In 1880 Isaac Fernández Blanco brought this house, which was adjacent to the home of his parents. The old house originally had a colonial structure but after Fernández Blanco returned from Paris in 1901 he decide to renovate his home along the lines of everything else that was happening in Buenos Aires. Since he had quite a bit of money, Fernández Blanco hired Alejandro Christophersen who was one of the city’s outstanding architects.

The original Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano was established in this house before it was later moved to its current location in Palacio Noel on Suipacha.

Throughout the twentieth century Casa Fernández Blanco served various purposes, businesses and administrative uses. Only a few years ago was the house acquired by the city. Restoration is still underway. It was quite remarkable to see some of the rooms that had not yet been restored in contrast to the splendid rooms that are finished.