Avenida Grau, the avenue on which our hotel is situated, was the path pre-Colombian Incas used to reach the ocean from their nearby temple, the Huaca Pucllana. The land on which the modern day neighborhood of Miraflores stands was historically cultivated by the Incas since 200 AD and became the Tomas Marsano hacienda in the mid 1800’s.
The old casona that now makes up the Hotel Antigua Miraflores was built on a property originally urbanized by Don Tomas in the late 1800’s. In 1916 it was sold to Carmen Toranzo de Perez by Don Tomas. Don Reynaldo Garcia then purchased the property from Mrs. Perez in 1922 and started construction on the Casona in 1923 using the services of a foreman named Máximo Chavez. Finally, in 1924 the house was expanded to include what is current the lounge and kitchen areas.
As with most residential constructions of that time, the first floor walls were built with large adobe brick covered with plaster. All the wood used for the floors, ceilings, and framework of the second floor is Oregon Pine imported from western United States. At that time it was less expensive to bring lumber to Lima by ship than over the Andes from the Amazon. The wood framework of the second floor is covered first with a layer of split bamboo, then a layer of adobe and straw, and finally covered with plaster. This construction technique called Quincha and is ideal for Lima’s climate and it’s propensity for earthquakes as it provides a strong but flexible structure.
Doña Santos Chian de Pun bought the house from Corrochano in 1925. Don Sergio Bernales Garcia, a prominent Medical Doctor who founded several hospitals and served as Peru’s Minister of Health, purchased the property from Doña Santos heirs in 1946.
The current owner, David Wroughton, purchased the property from Don Sergio’s heir’s (5 of which were still living in the house) in June of 1995. The house was in very good condition and in August, the remodeling began for the hotel. With the exception of added bathrooms, the extension of the stairwell to the third flood and two enclosures for the reception and lounge areas, the original house was changed very little.
.jpg)
