BuySellBA
Administrator
The place in Argentina that Americans choose to live - La Nacion Propiedades
Source:
El lugar de la Argentina que eligen los americanos para vivir
Se construyó un barrio cerrado que muchos extranjeros eligen para vivir, incluso de forma permanente
www.lanacion.com.ar
February 10, 2025
A gated community was built where many foreigners choose to live, even permanently.
By Maria Josefina Lanzi
In Cafayate there is a gated community that won over Americans and they choose to live and invest in ArgentinaGentleness
Cafayate is a place that conquers any Argentine who visits it and also captivates citizens of the United States . Surrounded by multi-colored mountains, it is located in the heart of the Calchaquí Valleys, 192 kilometers from Salta.
In 2005, a real estate project began to take shape near this town. La Estancia de Cafayate is a gated community located on National Route 40, in a place that offers 360 days of sunshine a year , which attracted Argentines, but also foreign investors.
Estancias Cafayate is located in the heart of the Calchaquí ValleysGentleness
Juan Carlos Romero was governor of Salta for three consecutive terms and is currently a senator for the province. In addition to his work in politics, he owned his own land in Cafayate, which he did not know would become one of the country clubs that would form a community with international residents. More than 20 years ago he met Dough Casey, an American investor who had also bought land in this town. After a conversation, they realized that their plots were next to each other and decided to join forces to launch this development together.
“The ranch was nothing more than land, the people of Salta did not believe that what exists today would be built ,” says Diane Klingesmit, Romero’s daughter-in-law, with her marked foreign accent, who was part of the promoter group that announced the project in the United States and who currently also lives in the neighborhood.
“For a long time there were no Argentines, only Americans , ” says Candelaria Patrón, who was part of the team that marketed the project in Argentina at the beginning, and adds: “The foreigners who stayed fell in love with the place.” Today, the proposal has become better known in Argentina and the owners are made up of 50% foreigners and the other half Argentines.
Juan Carlos Romero and Dough Casey teamed up to build a gated community on their neighboring landsGentleness
The neighborhood currently has 140 houses built . Although the place is not used as a permanent residence, but rather as a weekend house, “there are 20 families who live there permanently, of which 15 are from other countries ,” says Rodrigo Marcuzzi, developer of the neighborhood. 95% of the foreigners are Americans, but there are also some Australians, English and French residents. The Argentines who have houses there are mostly from Salta and Tucumán, although there are also some owners from Buenos Aires.
With an estimated investment of US$40 million over time, the neighborhood has a size of 550 hectares. Upon entering the site, you walk along a winding road, which has 150 lots that have not yet been worked. Once inside, the neighborhood offers another 400, between 2,000 m² and 4,000 m², which have the possibility of having a view of a vineyard in their garden . Of these already worked, “between 30 and 40 are still sold, for an average price of US$100,000,” says Marcuzzi. In addition, he adds that there are always resales.
The houses in the neighborhood are built in a similar style , with a rural Spanish colonial architecture, which gives the place a unique identity. The houses follow a specific regulation, with the possibility of variation, within a framework that establishes certain provisions.
The neighborhood also has a hotel from the international chain called Grace, “a group of luxury boutique hotels that has locations in different paradise destinations around the world,” adds Patrón. La Estancia offers its own wine label, which is produced with grapes grown in the vineyards spread throughout the neighborhood.
The houses in the neighborhood follow a specific regulation, with the possibility of variation, within a frameworkGentleness
Cafayate RanchesGentleness
An American who fell in love with Argentina
Diane Klingesmit is from Ohio, United States, and for 20 years she has lived part of the year in Cafayate, Salta, in the La Estancia de Cafayate neighborhood . Diane describes the area as “an energizing valley with a monumental charm.” She considers it her place in the world , “which fills me with peace and allows me to interact with people from different places. I just stopped to talk to residents from Brazil, Buenos Aires, France and the United States.”In 2005, she married an Argentinean, who was involved in the day-to-day running of the venture. She was working for a marketing magazine in the US when her father-in-law, Juan Carlos Romero, joined forces with Dough Casey to launch the project. “Dough described it as a little paradise between two hills ,” says Klingesmit.
The place has several amenities , such as a golf course, a polo and squash court, and a spa, “but people bought it for other reasons; they saw it as a sheltered place with an impressive natural landscape.”
The Estancia de Cafayate has numerous amenities, although its imposing landscape is what conquers the Americans Gentleness
The neighborhood has polo and squash fields and large tracts of land for horseback riding.Gentleness
Married to Romero's son and with a marketing degree, she helped promote the neighborhood in her country, attracting foreign buyers. "I grew up in a place with snow and coming here, with sunshine almost every day of the year, is fabulous," she confesses.
Living in the mountains, with a monumental natural landscape, can help you to disconnect from the hectic days and to establish a connection with nature and people. In Klingesmit's case, there are three things that he loves and that he believes attract others: “the unique nature, the wild landscape and the people, with their culture and customs.”
Among the amenities of the neighborhood, there is a golf course, polo and squash court.Gentleness
He says that in Cafayate there is a unique fusion of Argentine Europeanism , with its warm people and an area full of ancestral traditions, rooted long ago: “Something that is shown in the food: dishes that travel from Italy, but mixed with the local humita, which comes from ancient corn.”
Her affection for Argentina went so far that she recently wrote the book The Andean Table, which details the cultural customs of northwestern Argentina, with native recipes from the north. “In these 20 years I have met many people, with customs that are not written down. I took classes, we wrote down recipes and made a book,” says Diane.
Cafayate has natural attractions that attract numerous foreigners every year. Gentleness
Other attractions of Cafayate
In pre-Columbian times, the Cafayate area was populated by Diaguita indigenous settlements. Its name is of Quechua or Quechua origin and, although the versions vary, one of them claims that its name means “water box”. At the end of the 15th century, the conquistadors from Peru arrived and in 1535 the first Spaniards would arrive. It is said that this town in the middle of the mountains was the one that resisted the invasion the most.The place is known for its vineyards, which offer, among other things, Torrontés wine, a characteristic grape variety of the area. Cafayate is internationally recognized for being part of the highest wine route in the world with the highest concentration of wineries. The characteristics of the area, such as the thermal amplitude and the composition of the soil favor its development.
Very close to the town of Cafayate there are impressive natural attractions, such as La Quebrada de las Conchas, Garganta del Diablo, the Amphitheater and Los Castillos, which naturally represent what their names indicate.
On the way to Cafayate there are several natural proposals, among them, the Quebrada de las Conchas
www.buysellba.com
