Dorcas inside. A 20-year home built by Carlos Pedro Blaquier in Las Lomas de San Ysidro.

March 14, 20234:32 p.m

Carlos Pedro Blaquier lived in an apartment on Basavilbaso street. He spent weekends in Nordelta, the house he gave to his wife Cristina Kaluf in the Castours neighborhood, by the pool. However, his best work, one of his greatest prides, is La Torcasa, a magnificent mansion in Las Lomas de San Ysidro that he never lived in.

It’s not a secret, it’s impossible to hide: from Sucre street, between Jacinto Díaz and Nicolás Avellaneda, behind a privet that spans the entire block, a transparent brick construction with a black slate roof appears. With Google Earth, its proportions are best seen: it’s huge, with the garden and house covering 21,650 square meters, which seems double the size of the entire gated community nearby.

La Torcaza is a house of public relations: none of the Blackaires live or live there. Not even its creator, Carlos Pedro, who directed its construction and was present to the last detail. The mansion was conceived as a private club, a place to receive friends, organize social gatherings and have lunches in addition to classical concerts.

The design, the plans, took two years. Mission accomplished, 18 years to go. Carlos Pedro said: “I was 50 years old when this adventure began, and I was 70 when it ended. In other words, I dedicated a large part of my life to this work, which is why it is so closely connected to me. .” The plans bear the signature of architect Fernando Ruda.

There is no “home heat” in Dorcas. There is marble throughout the mansion: floors, walls, bathtubs, tables… even the bed in the master bedroom. He used 26 different types of marble brought from Italy, Greece, Turkey, Belgium and South Africa and 6 different types of stones. Carlos Pedro considered it a “work of resistance against disposable culture”. Precisely, on one of the exterior walls of the house, next to the exterior chimney, was placed a plaque that left her will engraved in bronze: in other words, La Dorcasa must never be sold, it must be sold. It should be maintained like a temple. The trust that administers your estate is responsible for carrying out your wishes.

In a poem he wrote on December 1, 1997, Carlos Pedro Blaguier explains how he chose the property’s name:

Swift-flying dove,/ Pearl gray are your colors,/ Dove of our snake,/ Dove of my love.//

As the evening darkens/ Only the sanctum screams/ You quickly cross the space/ Come back to the room.//

The lullaby of sleepy hours,/ Springtime love,/ Of the birds of the sky/ You are my first.//

That’s why I named you/ So dear a home,/ A lady’s name,/ A beloved’s name.//

Dove of Taberus,/ Earthly friend of man,/ Thou hast baptized my house,/ Thanks to thy name.//

Dove of our lands, / Dove of our skies, / Your wings / Carriers of my best wishes.//

The main house of La Torcasa has an area of ​​5,400 square meters. The environments are mainly divided into eight rooms, a music room, two changing rooms for the swimming pool and reception rooms, named after the statues on them.

Carlos Pedro Blaquier was so proud of his creation that he had three books printed, titled “La Dorcasa,” detailing the property. He gave them to his close friends and occasional guests. In the only photograph showing him with Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Blaquier presents her with a copy of “La Dorcasa.” Some copies can be obtained on the Internet, through Mercado Libre, at very different prices: from 3,000 to 23,000 pesos.

Signed by photographer Jose Luis Rodriguez. The third volume is devoted exclusively to the sculptures in the house.