The Estancia

In a completely self-sufficient world of native forests and pastures, there are separate brick buildings for each activity, all interconnected along labyrinthical roads: a tea-house where María Luisa received friends, the gardening laboratory of her famous orchid nursery, the carriage house, the stables that once housed grand champion Percheron stallions and Aberdeen Angus bulls, a dairy, a slaughterhouse, a mill, a chicken farm, the administrations building, a farm and road equipment shed, the overseer's house, and the "matera" (little house where the ranch foreman gives instructions for the day to the ranch hands as the "mate" is handed around), among others. The Tudor-style buildings are authored by architect Collcut, the same one who designed the Hurlingham Club and the British Embassy.

The entrance to the main house is through Benjamín Muniz Barreto's study, with its profusely illustrated 19th. century history and travel books in Spanish, English, French, Italian and German, lithographs and life-size temperas of some of the pre-Columbian pieces from the collection he finally sold to the La Plata Museum, and boxes of 3-D colour Lumiere autochrome slides of the orchid nursery and ranch buildings, that can be viewed in a Griensu wood visor held up to the light. Benjamín Muniz Barreto's was the largest private archaeology collection in the country, counting some 10,900 pieces excavated mostly in the North of Argentina..

Bonnie Tucker - Buenos Aires Herald June 22,1996

Swans, flamingos, herons, hares, foxes, armadillos, weasels, skunks and other animals are part of the fauna of the Estancia. The descendents of the Axis deer imported by the Muniz Barretos in the early part of the century can also be occasionally seen.Nowadays, the Estancia is managed by Benjamín Muniz Barreto, and his sisters Damasia, Carlota and Florencia (grandchildren of María Luisa Tornquist) are in charge of the organization and personalized attention of guests.

Gourmet

Come and enjoy our exquisite Argentine and international homemade dishes. The best “Aberdeen-Angus” meat, deer “milanesas” (breaded steaks), rabbit marinated with red wine and spices, semolina gnocchi, tomato “confit” and local delicatessen such as cheese and salami, setas and portobellos (mushrooms) of the area.
“Empanadas”, barbecues (“asados”), grilled vegetables with olive oil and herbs, and homemade pasta. You can’t miss our desserts: marquise with “dulce de leche” and meringue, lemon pie, Rogel cake, and scones for tea-time.

Accomodation

Juan Gerónimo lodges up to 24 persons in eleven rooms (nine in the main house) which have been decorated in a cozy Country style. Those bedrooms overlooking the lake are furnished in a Colonial style with Portuguese furniture.

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