La Casa de la Bola

On my final Sunday in Mexico City last month, Alejandro and I were trying to decide where to go.  On the internet I found a museum which I had never visited... La Casa de la Bola.  It is only open on Sundays, so we decided to go there.

La Casa de la Bola is located in the neighborhood of Tacubaya, to the south of Chapultepec Park.  It was once on the outskirts of the city, and many wealthy families owned country estates there.  By the 20th century it was swallowed up by the growth of the city, and it is far from the bucolic area it once was.  One reminder of Tacubaya's past is La Casa de la Bola, a mansion which was built in the 17th century.  The last owner of the house was Antonio Hagenbeck, an eccentric Mexican of German descent.  In the 1940s Hagenbeck bought the house, restored it, and furnished it with antiques.  He lived there until his death in 1984.  His will set up a foundation to preserve the mansion and its furnishings as a museum.

On Sundays visitors may take guided tours of the house and see about a dozen of the lavishly furnished rooms.  Haghenbeck lived his life surrounded by the elegance typical of an upper class 19th century home.

Unfortunately photography is not permitted within the rooms, but I found some pictures on the web.

(images from the web)

Behind the house are gardens designed in the "romantic" style.  Curving pathways lead through a "natural" setting, interspersed with marble statuary.





Haghenbeck also owned two former hacienda houses, one in the Mexico City district of Tlalnepantla, and another in the state of Puebla.  They also are preserved as museums.  I guess we have a couple excursions to make on my future visits.