Casas Gemelas: The Historic Mansions of Mérida

The French Châteaux of Paseo de Montejo

Standing along Mérida's famed Paseo de Montejo between Calles 43 and 45, the Casas Cámara—popularly known as Las Casas Gemelas (The Twin Houses)—exemplify the architectural ambition of Yucatán’s henequen boom. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, local planters amassed immense fortunes exporting sisal fiber worldwide. Modeled after the grand boulevards of Europe, particularly the Champs-Élysées in Paris, Paseo de Montejo became the preferred corridor for Mérida's elite, shifting the city's residential center northward from its traditional Spanish colonial core.

Commissioned in the late 1900s by brothers Ernesto and Camilo Cámara Zavala, the two residences broke away from conventional regional layouts in favor of modern French elegance. Construction began around 1908 and culminated in a formal inauguration on December 24, 1911.

Parisian Design and Yucatecan Engineering

The Cámara brothers enlisted French architect Gustave Umbdenstock after admiring his design of the French Pavilion—a replica of the Grand Trianon—at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Umbdenstock prepared the blueprints and interior layouts in Paris, and his designs were featured in the architectural publication La Construction Moderne in 1907.

To execute these complex plans, the brothers engaged Yucatecan engineer Manuel Cantón Ramos, who also supervised the construction of the neighboring Palacio Cantón. Building materials, furnishings, and decorative treatments were imported directly from Europe to realize Umbdenstock's French Beaux-Arts, Second Empire, and Neoclassical revival vision.

Architectural Features and Structural Differences

Despite their popular moniker as "The Twin Houses," the two residences are not exact duplicates. While both display pale limestone facades, mansard-inspired rooflines, elaborate friezes, stone garlands, sculpted crests, and ornamental wrought-iron balconies, each maintains distinct architectural treatments. The southern residence (Montejo 495) features semicircular pediments above its upper-story windows, whereas the northern sister house was built with an open upper terrace framed by a classical stone balustrade.

Inside, the residences were finished with lavish detailing, including a grand three-story vestibule, polished parquet floors, silk draperies, decorative porcelain, and imported stained glass. The southern home's monumental central staircase is flanked by monolithic Bianco Carrara marble columns imported from Italy.

Evolution and the Montejo 495 Casa Museo

Completed just before the onset of the Mexican Revolution and the subsequent decline of the global henequen market, the properties eventually changed hands. In 1964, tourism entrepreneur Fernando Barbachano Gómez Rul acquired the southern mansion. Under the Barbachano family's ownership, the residence served as a gathering place for international dignitaries and notable figures, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco, King Umberto II of Italy, and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.

In January 2021, Barbachano family heiress Maruja Barbachano Herrero chose to preserve the southern home as a cultural institution rather than sell the estate to commercial or banking developers. Operating as Montejo 495 Casa Museo, the southern mansion exhibits original Parisian cabinetry, period art, and antique furnishings. The northern mansion remains a private residence and is closed to the public.