The Mora-Restrepo are a very close-knit family who really enjoy the company of friends, nature and any kind of activity that they can do together. Those were the exact reasons which led this Colombian family to make a decision, they were the first ones to purchase a private field at Parque El Buchén.

Diego Mora and his family, which is comprised of his wife, Ángela Restrepo, and his two sons; José María (16) and Antonio (14) arrived in Chile 13 years ago due to working matters. Nowadays, our country is their home, besides they spend some of their time travelling to their homeland Colombia, and the USA.

The decision of becoming the owners of a field at Parque El Buchén, was a very planned one and it was pondered over as a family, that is what the businessman Diego Mora explains. “When we started looking for what we wanted to purchase in order to break away from the routine and spend time with the family, we basically considered the existing alternatives in Chile: A mountain refuge, a beach house or a country house”. Parque El Buchén was definitely the best family decision we have ever made because this is a place where you can go for retreat that we can use over the whole year and a place where we can enjoy spending time with our friends.

How did you find out about Parque El Buchén?
We were looking for a place that had a forest of this size, that was near Santiago, so we started to go all over Los Andes mountain range up to Curicó. Some very close friends had bought a field nearby, they told us that this place would be parceled up, we found out about it before they were launch on sale and for this reason we were the first owners at El Buchén. We visited the park and it fascinated us, it was just what we were looking for; some peace, serenity and forest.

Why did a Colombian family like you look for a Valdivian type forest like this one, considering that this is a very different climate as the one you have in Colombia?
Climates vary according to altitude and we are from Bogotá which is at 2600 meters high. Bogotá is a permanently cold city with a maximum of 20 degrees, while cold days at dawn is 0 degrees temperature. Besides I was raised in the countryside, and this is very similar to the fields an uncle owns, so it brings me so many memories.

What did you like best about this field in particular? You were the first owners and you could have chosen any other place…
The countryside as a tradition needs water, so we took that into account about this place, the gully that brings water. Furthermore, the size of the field makes us feel totally independent, if we do not want to see anybody, we do not see anybody, and nobody can see us from the road. We have a privileged field in woods and water.

How long ago did you buy this place?
It was 2 years ago, we did not have the time to build during the first year because we were almost at the end of the building season, so we spent the time observing the blueprints of how the house would look like.

When did the building process start?
As soon as the winter was over, more or less in September, and we have to finish before this winter starts.

What was your inspiration for building this house?
This house is based on the way we like living, this is a refuge where we can share with friends around the fire and the kitchen. So, we have this module, that is an open area, where the fireplace, the traditional wood stove and the games room are. The idea is to be together in the wide table made of Coihue (made for 14 people) that we will have made, that is, to be all together reunited. The other module is where the bedrooms are, and there is even a third stage considered, that is where the main bedroom would be, it would be a self-contained room, so if there is the change only some of us came we do not have to turn on the fireplace for the whole house, we would do it only for the main room instead.

Tell us a little bit more about that table made of Coihue you want to have made…
In order to build this table we will use a beautiful fallen dead Coihue tree of 1,60 meters in diameter that is in our field. We have the idea of making it from just one cut, and that beautiful tree is giving us the chance. I consider that when you enter into a place like this, the only goal is to take care of nature, do not intervene it and be cautious with our surroundings. If we need to work with some wood, there is plenty of fallen trees that have fallen along the years and we can use them now, the other trees are the ones we need to take care of.

Most teenagers aged as your sons prefer places near the beach or where there is snow. What did they like about Parque El Buchén?
Our children are used to go to the countryside since they were born, they used to ride horses and they miss it very much in Chile. This is the ideal place for us and is located relatively close to Santiago.

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