Quinta Heeren

The Quinta Heeren, formerly known as the Quinta del Carmen, is one of the first private residence condominiums built in Lima around the 1880s.

History
Originally called Quinta del Carmen due to its proximity to the church of the same name in Barrios Altos, and inspired by the Parc Monceau in Paris, it was promoted by the German merchant Óscar Antonio Federico Augusto Heeren Massa.

Once its construction was completed, it was occupied by Óscar Heeren, relatives, and close friends, among them his son-in-law, the Peruvian politician José Pardo y Barreda. It is through the latter that the succession of owners to date remains in this family. From 1901 to 1940, the quinta was the headquarters of the embassies of Japan, Belgium, Germany, France and the United States. Starting in the 1920s, there was a significant presence of wealthy Japanese in the area, including Seiguma Kitsutani, a guest at chalet No. 3, who sold a large number of imported products, and who committed suicide due to financial problems in 1928 in the Palace of this place through a ritual of honor, called seppuku.

Starting in the 1970s, new neighbours would occupy the Quinta, giving it a more popular character, becoming a repository of many stories of Creole festivals, famous neighbours, and the bucolic and paradisiacal character that this place had.

Overview
The group of houses and mansions occupies an area of 36 thousand square metres.

The architecture of the Fifth is in the Austro-Hungarian historicist style, with Victorian and eclectic influences. This place is made up of a small square, narrow streets, and gardens adorned with vases and sculptures. Formerly it owned a zoo and a tennis court.

The architect Héctor Velarde adds about this place:

"Its exceptional isolation in a shady backwater of old Lima has kept it intact as a small neighborhood of Victorian times... The architecture is of a very fine neo-classicism with smooth and clear cloths."

- Héctor Velarde