House of Count de la Torre de Cossio
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The House of Count de la Torre de Cossio belonged to a rich Spanish merchant named Juan Manuel González de Cossio, which was built over the former residence of Juan Manuel Sotomayor. González de Cossio received his title from the Spanish crown in 1773. The mansion itself was built in 1781.

The façade has a symmetrical design with three floors, covered in tezontle
Tezontle
Tezontle is a porous, extrusive, igneous, volcanic rock used extensively in construction in Mexico. It is usually reddish in color.-Uses:Tezontle can be mixed with concrete to form lightweight concrete blocks, or mixed with cement to create stucco finishes. Tezontle is often used as the top...

 (a reddish porous stone) and white stone and is considered a prototype of the palatial constructions to very soon follow. The entrance is flanked by columns and the lintel decorated with small stone heads. The second floor of the house has an ironwork balcony and four central doorways. At the end of the building, there is a frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...

 decorated with linked chains which frame small fleur-de-lis
Fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis or fleur-de-lys is a stylized lily or iris that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in heraldry...

. Above this geometric figures top the cresting with pinnacle
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...

s. The building still has it original gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...

s in the shape of cannons, which were put there as a reminder that the owner was a captain-general in the military. The square corner tower is patterned after conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...

-age buildings. Topping all of this is a tile-covered turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...

.

Only small remnants of the original interior remain as it has been greatly modified over the years.
The house was the scene of a legend that has been refuted by descendant Luis González Obregón. According to this legend, Juan Manuel, one of the original owners of the mansion, suspected that his wife was cheating on him in spite of the fact that others insisted that this was not true. He consulted a wizard who advised him to kill the first person to pass by his house at 11 pm that night. Juan Manuel decided to heed this advice and before killing the unfortunate passer-by told him "You are indeed fortunate, for you know the hour of your death." Unsatisfied, Juan Manuel killed other passers-by in a similar manner until he suddenly repented and died mysteriously while performing the penitence ordered by his confessor.
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