The House of Tiles

The Casa de los Azulejos or Palacio de los Condes del Valle de Orizaba is an 18th-century Baroque palace in Mexico City, built by the Count of the Valle de Orizaba family. The building is distinguished by its facade, which is covered on three sides by blue and white colonial Talavera tiles from Puebla state. The palace remained in private hands until near the end of the 19th century. It changed hands several times before being bought by the Sanborns brothers who expanded their soda fountain/drugstore business into one of the best-recognized restaurant chains in Mexico. The house today serves as their flagship restaurant.The counts of the Valle de Orizaba began construction of the palace in the 16th century. Descendants of this House of Orizaba covered the exterior of the palace in 1737 with the beautiful azulejos that are seen today.