Casa de la Bola
The Museo Casa de la Bola is located in the Tacubaya neighbourhood of Mexico City, Mexico. The museum focuses on the dissemination of the decorative arts.
Permanent exhibition
The house is decorated according to the fashion of a Mexican high society house at the end of the 19th century, this decoration forms the permanent exhibition collection. It has 13 rooms, in which there is a varied selection of furniture from the 15th to the 20th century.
History of the house
It is unknown where the name of the house comes from, although there are two versions, the first one refers to the fact that there was a ball-shaped ornament on the top of the building or in the courtyard, another version states that in the 19th century a revolt was organised there, at that time people used to call such events "la bola" (the ball).
It was built in the 16th century as a country house and hacienda producing olive oil, it had magueys within the vegetation. It had several owners such as Francisco Bazán Albornoz, (Apostolic Inquisitor of the Holy Office), José Justo Gómez de la Cortina (Count la Cortina), José María Rincón Gallardo (Marquis of Guadalupe).
The last owner was Antonio Haghenbeck y de la Lama, who in the 1940s remodelled and refurbished it as a 19th century mansion, which is how it is maintained today. In 1984 he donated it to the foundation that bears his name in order to conserve it and to carry out cultural and educational activities.
The Fundación Cultural Antonio Haghenbeck y de la Lama, I.A.P. uses the funds obtained from renting the space for events, restoring the collections and the museums, thus preserving the historical heritage left as a legacy by its founder.
According to oral tradition, some illustrious visitors stayed at the Casa de la Bola, among others, the Güera Rodríguez, the Marquise Calderón de la Barca and José Zorrilla, author of Don Juan Tenorio, who lived in Tacubaya during his stay in Mexico. In the second half of the 19th century, the house remained in the hands of different members of the Rincón Gallardo family.
WikipediaWebsite:https://www.museoshaghenbeck.mx/museo-casa-de-la-bola/
