Long ago when the city of Mazatlán was a small city, Calle Principal was the main drag through town. Actually, that’s what Calle Principal means – Main Street. Many of the houses were quite large and imposing. Now the street is called Belisario Domínguez – not the only change on this special old street.
Many of the large mansions have been broken up into several houses, some are restored beauties, some have been left to crumble away, and some are being worked on little by little.
Across the street from us is the gorgeous old ruin pictured above. It is called El Chalet de Salvadora Chávez and is currently occupied. Occasionally there is work being done to it – mostly banging and hammering indoors. Recently the work has started again, and the workers tell us they think they will be repairing the entire facade. What a treat that would be!
At the top of the post is a picture of how the house looked when we moved here in 2007. If you want to look at a larger version of it, please click here.
In March of 2008 an article was done on the house in our local paper. A link to the article is here. And a link to the pictures of the house is here. The house is about 120 years old and is L-shaped, with a courtyard inside. It has had a variety of uses – including a home, a bakery, and a school.
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I’ll be taking pictures as the work progresses, but at this time the albañiles are working on the lower facade. You can see their progress if you look at the darker cement in the picture above. A larger picture is available here. I’m making a unique category for posts on this topic – Chávez Casa. Look for it in the Categories drop down at the left.
Brenda
May 16, 2011What a beautiful old building and what a joy it will be to watch the restoration. I love these old buildings and wish that the city or owners here in Guaymas had the money to restore some of the old buildings here. They carry so much history within their walls.
jonna
May 16, 2011I love watching the old beauties come back to life. What a gorgeous one that is.
Zoe
May 17, 2011One of my favorite buildings, so it makes me happy to think she will have a facelift. This makes a couple of these magnificent structures that now look like they will be saved. The other one you told us about a while back, across from La Mona pizza. Thanks for the update.
Contessa
May 17, 2011How wonderful. So glad it is being restored and thank you for sharing. Now an even greater story would be of who built it, lived there then and now. Intringuing!
Nancy
May 18, 2011Brenda, I’m not positive, but I think the restoration may be part of the Coppel/City project that did a lot of painting here last year.
Jonna, It’s going to take a long time to restore the exterior, hopefully they reopen the windows, too.
Zoe, Yes, it is a beauty. There is lots of restoration going on, several over by Templo San Jose that I walk by daily.
Contessa, You should read the newspaper article for the details on the building! (Google translate?)