Category: Business

The Chas family came to Argentina from a small town in Galicia much earlier than most immigrants. In fact, Francisco Chas y Pombo married the sister of independence hero Manuel Belgrano. Successful with a small supply store in the Plaza de Mayo marketplace, their son—Francisco Chas Belgrano—made the family fortune grow & earned a place in Buenos Aires high society.

The marriage of Francisco Chas Belgrano was fruitful… to say the least. His eight children became further integrated with the well-to-do; one daughter even married Ernesto Bunge, a major architect in Buenos Aires. Perhaps it was these upper class connections that led Chas to invest in real estate. By the time of his death in 1890, Chas owned several houses in Buenos Aires as well as land in several provinces. The family vault was built in Recoleta Cemetery for the death of Francisco.

Two years later, much of the Chas family property was sold by his children. Among the items for sale was the summer house in Belgrano where Chas & his wife passed away. Purchased by the mother of the Anchorena family, she gave the house as a wedding gift to daughter Josefina when she married Enrique Larreta:

The newlyweds hired architect Martín Noel to remodel the house in 1916, converting it into a Neocolonial masterpiece. It now functions as the Museo Municipal de Arte Español Enrique Larreta across the street from La Redonda:

However the most permanent reminder of the Chas family in Buenos Aires is a barrio named after them: Parque Chas. In the 1920s, one of the third-generation sons decided to urbanize some of the family’s land holdings. Originally developed as workers’ housing, the original homes were built as British-style chalets. A few still exist today. But it’s the street plan that most people recognize… concentric circles. Designed to make the area more commercially desirable (much like Barrio Parque in Palermo), the confusing layout is now the bane of taxi drivers. Below are comparative aerial photographs from the 1940s & 2000:

More information about the Chas family can be found on the neighborhood’s website.

18 Comments

Fortunes come & fortunes go. Perhaps that’s why a simple marker is the only decoration on the resting place of one of the most influential businessmen in early Argentine history.

Gaspar de Santa Coloma immigrated from the Basque Country to Buenos Aires in 1768 at the age of 26. After marrying Flora de Azcuénaga, he became a leading figure & benefactor to the Azcuénaga family… even arranging a marriage between a close cousin & Flora’s brother, Miguel de Azcuénaga. Making a fortune based on trade with Spain, Santa Coloma sponsored & assisted others coming from his Basque homeland. Martín de Álzaga saw Santa Coloma as a father figure, lived & worked with him from the ages of 12 to 22, & was given a large sum of money by Santa Coloma to start his own business.

Gaspar de Santa Coloma & his protegé Martín de Álzaga were among the richest men in Buenos Aires when independence was declared from Spain in 1810. Their close ties to Spain put them at odds with the revolutionaries, & both men were viewed as a threat. The First Triumvirate sentenced Martín de Álzaga to death, but Santa Coloma avoided the execution squads at the cost of his fortune. His close relationship with Miguel de Azcuénaga—who formed part of the Primera Junta—likely helped him as well. Santa Coloma died in 1815 with little money or prestige, a casualty of revolutionary times.

Strong ties to the Azcuénaga clan are also visible on a plaque dedicated to Miguel de Azcuénaga’s sister, Ana. Born in Buenos Aires, she was the first local to marry a Spanish Viceroy. Antonio de Olaguer y Feliú ruled from 1797 to 1799. Both Antonio & Ana went to Spain after the revolution & died there. It is unclear if Ana’s remains were eventually returned to Buenos Aires & placed here.

2 Comments

Born in 1837, Wenceslao Villafañe founded “La Capital” in 1888—a trolley service which became the principal beef distribution network for Buenos Aires. Slaughterhouses moved from Parque Patricios to the barrio of Mataderos in 1901, & back then there was a lot of open land between them & the city center. Trolleys carried sides of beef to Boedo where it eventually reached butcher shops & a hungry public.

Villafañe passed away in 1903, but he had already sold the network in 1895 to Theodore N. Vail… American business mogul & founder of AT&T. Tramway growth under Vail was immense, & he even hired Luis María Drago as a legal consultant. The original hub, named Estación Liniers, eventually housed electric trolleys instead horse-drawn carriages. And the meat distribution plant built next door was named Estación Vail in honor of “La Capital”‘s owner.

Later bought & nationalized in 1949 as part of Perón’s grand economic plan, the end of all trolley service in the 1960s closed “La Capital” forever. Estación Liniers/Vail was purchased by a shipping company & used briefly, but that company went bankrupt in the 1990s.

The station still sits on Virrey Liniers between Estados Unidos & Carlos Calvo… but not for long. A high-rise apartment building will soon be constructed on the lot & leftover space will be converted into a public park. Distinctly industrial & surrounded by lots of suspended cables, this is one more piece of Buenos Aires which will soon be history. Go see it while you can:

Leave a Comment