LUGARES MAGAZINE Nro. 66
Page. 84 - 87
By: Rossana Acquasanta


Cachi was the land of Catholic missionaries and they installed a mill in the times of the so called Encomienda, in the XVIIth Century. During ages it was sunk in oblivion, until the Durand family arrived and the stone went back to turning, moved by the water that for millennia the Cuevas River has been paying tribute with in its descent from the Cordillera Mountain range. There is a before and after in Cachi for this married couple that decided to settle down in the Calchaquí Centre to receive, as they have been doing for the last seven years, with much cordiality and savoir faire, all visitors.

The property that they then had bought included the abandoned mill, but instead of dismantling it, they incorporated it to the new construction, following the wise advice of their daughter Virginia, an architect with a sensible spirit. Beauty is the real owner of the wide and rustic piece of land where this story of a unique lodging began, hidden away between the hills at 4 kilometres from the small Village of Cachi, in Salta. And the house, with its paved stone patio, and a mixture of tiles and wood, completes the landscape.

To the original enchantment of the Molino de Cachi Adentro Mill remarkable improvements have been added, like the inauguration of a splendid dining room, in Spanish Colonial style. The solid table with an immaculately white table cloth, the delicate set of dishes, the crystal chandelier that hangs from the split ceiling – made of wood and cane -, the chimney, in short, everything harmonises. It is the counterpoint to the next door area, where the mill itself is located, which is used as a breakfast area.

The kitchen, totally refurbished, was transferred to another place of the house. There is also a splendid wine cellar; a gift shop was finished, full of the obligatory handicrafts; and it even brought forth a mud brick oven a few metres from the terrace, for the greater enjoyment of the stuffed fried pastries or so called empanadas. Virginia was - of course – in charge of the re modelling and the creation of new spaces in this sunny enclave in the Salta Route of the Valleys by the foot of the Champaqui.