House for sale in Golf by architect Arturo Dubourg

Golf neighborhood, since 1948:

In 1948, the water tower of the Parque del Golf neighborhood was inaugurated, a notable architectural work and a symbol of Punta del Este. One of the resort's most exclusive and beautiful neighborhoods also emerged, and has managed to preserve its character despite the growth of the Peninsula.

It is not known for certain whether it was his mentor, Argentine architect Arturo Dubourg, or the Chaquiriand family, who owned the property at the time, who named the large building L'Auberge (the inn, in French). It housed the drinking water storage tank for an entire neighborhood and had a small ten-room hotel on the ground floor. The establishment soon became famous for its refined tea room, where waffles made in special molds brought from Belgium were and still are served.

Seven decades ago, one of Punta del Este's most elegant areas came into being. Dubourg built dozens of large, luxurious residences there, surrounded by spacious gardens that in many cases were and still are true parks. For Dubourg, it marked the beginning of a professional period on the Peninsula, where he would go on to build more than one hundred chalets over three decades.

The visionaries:

Uruguayan businessman Pascual Gattás and Argentine businessman Óscar Cadermatori joined forces to develop a new subdivision beside the emerging San Rafael neighborhood, which had been successfully laid out by fellow businessman Laureano Alonsopérez.

Notary Marta and Dr. Pedro Berro joined Gattás and Cadermatori. They all agreed that architect Dubourg, who already enjoyed a strong reputation in the Río de la Plata region, was the right person to undertake the ambitious project. Among his most notable works were the Bristol and Claridge hotels in Buenos Aires, as well as dozens of luxurious chalets in the Los Troncos neighborhood of Mar del Plata.

Architect Arturo Dubourg (1912-2003):

He was a prolific Argentine architect who designed numerous projects of all kinds, mainly in Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata and Punta del Este (Uruguay). His most notable works are the Claridge Hotel, the Hotel Bristol Buenos Aires and the Edificio Sudamérica. He was also a Turismo Nacional and Turismo Carretera racing driver, under the pseudonym Grey Rock.

He was born in the city of 25 de Mayo (province of Buenos Aires) on May 28, 1912. He began his secondary education as a boarder at Colegio San José, but due to financial difficulties completed it at Colegio Nacional Mariano Moreno. He entered the School of Architecture at the Faculty of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires, where he studied alongside the future partners of the SEPRA firm.

Meanwhile, he was actively involved in sports from a young age and became Argentine junior champion, winning at Av. Costanera in 1929. He played tennis from an early age at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, on the third-division team alongside his brother Manuel María, Enrique Luis Drago Mitre, Adolfo Bioy Casares, and brothers Julio and Charlie Menditeguy. After graduating as an architect, he completed his first work in 1935. He had already been hired by the General Directorate of Railways in 1932, and the following year joined the General Directorate of Roads, where he worked until 1940. At National Roads, he designed the Km 0 monolith, sculpted by José Fioravanti.

Internal reference: Tera-260