A Disused Historic Home in Argentina’s Cowboy Country Becomes a Young Family’s Rural Refuge

The ground is parched and dusty in the old quarter of San Antonio de Areco as we pull into Julián Benedit Prebisch and Micaela Suide’s home for an asado, or Argentine barbecue. All is quiet except for buzzing bees and chirping cicadas.

The couple’s life in Argentina’s rural Pampas region is a far cry from the bustle they left behind in Buenos Aires. Julián, an artist, and Micaela, a textile designer, had been living in the capital when the Covid pandemic struck in early 2020. Later that year, their son, Florian, was born, and they started to feel claustrophobic in the city.

When lockdown restrictions were relaxed that September they began to escape to Santa Coloma, a small Pampas town less than two hours north of the city, where Julián’s family has a weekend home. On the way, they would often stop in San Antonio de Areco to stock up on fuel and provisions, then linger over lunch and explore the neighborhood’s 18th-century old quarter and colonial residences.

"We saw the space we could have here—in Buenos Aires, it would be impossible."

—Julián Benedit Prebisch, resident