The Bosch Palace is an architecturally significant residence in the Palermo

Palermo, Buenos Aires

Palermo is a neighborhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It is located in the northeast of the city, bordering the barrios of Belgrano to the north, Almagro and Recoleta to the south, Villa Crespo and Colegiales to the west and the Río de la Plata river to the east. With a total...

 section of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

.

Overview

The French Neoclassical

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

 mansion was commissioned by Elisa and Ernesto Bosch

Ernesto Bosch

Ernesto Bosch was a prominent Argentine landowner, lawyer, and diplomat who served as the first President of the Central Bank of Argentina.-Life and times:...

 in 1910. Bosch had returned to Argentina following a tenure of six years as Argentine Ambassador to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, and the couple, both born to wealthy landowners, wished to evoke their years in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. They commissioned French architect

French architecture

The history of French architecture runs in parallel with its neighbouring countries in Europe, with France being home to both some of the earliest pioneers in many architectural styles, and also containing some of the finest architectural creations of the continent.-Roman:The architecture of...

 René Sergent

René Sergent

René Sergent was a noted French architect.-Biography:Sergent was trained at the École spéciale d'architecture, where he concentrated on French architecture of the 18th century but also studied British contemporaries such as Robert Adam, then entered the architectural office of Ernest Sanson where...

 to design a mansion in what was then near the northern end of Alvear Avenue

Avenida Alvear

Avenida Alvear is an upscale thoroughfare in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located in the neighbourhood of Recoleta, it extends for seven blocks, from the Plazoleta Carlos Pellegrini to Alvear Plaza...

, and, following his resignation as Foreign Minister

Foreign relations of Argentina

This article deals with the diplomatic affairs, foreign policy and international relations of Argentina.At the political level, these matters are officially handled by the Ministry of Foreign Relations, also known as the Cancillería, which answers to the President...

 in 1914, he devoted more time to the project with his wife, contracting the Parisian interior design

Interior design

Interior design describes a group of various yet related projects that involve turning an interior space into an effective setting for the range of human activities are to take place there. An interior designer is someone who conducts such projects...

er André Carlhian, and landscape designers Achille Duchêne

Achille Duchêne

Achille Duchêne was a French garden designer who worked in the grand manner established by André Le Nôtre. The son of the landscaper...

 and Charles Thays.

Completed in 1917, the 3,700 m² (40,000 ft²) Bosch Palace became of interest to U.S. Ambassador Robert Woods Bliss during a reception there in his honor, and in 1929, was sold by the Bosches to the U.S. State Department for use as the Embassy and residence of the United States Ambassador to Argentina

United States Ambassador to Argentina

The United States Ambassador to Argentina is the official representative of the President of the United States to the head of state of Argentina....

 for around US$3 million. The mansion, situated on what today is Avenida del Libertador

Avenida del Libertador

Avenida del Libertador is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in points north, extending 25 km from the Retiro District of Buenos Aires to the northern suburb of San Fernando.-History:...

 and overlooking Parque Tres de Febrero

Parque Tres de febrero

Parque Tres de Febrero, also known as the Bosques de Palermo , is a city park of 25 hectares located in the neighborhood of Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina...

, became of sole use as the ambassadorial residence after the 1969 completion of the present U.S. Embassy, an architecturally spare building located within walking distance of the Bosch Palace.