Pablo Neruda’s dream homes
Best known for his dazzling love poetry, Pablo Neruda was also an obsessive collector of bric-a-brac and “designer of fantastical spaces”. To see the results, visit the three houses the Chilean writer shared with his lover, Matilde Urrutia, from 1951 until his death in 1973. Each is “fabulous”, and touring between them is a delight, says Joyce Maynard in The New York Times. La Chascona, in Santiago, is full of African masks, stuffed animals, statues of angels and “wonderfully odd” crockery among which Neruda concealed talismans and “secret messages” for his lover. In Valparaiso, La Sebastiana has a wonderful writing room with a collection of bronze hands. And perched spectacularly on the wild coast to the south is Isla Negra, Neruda’s favourite, with a vast fireplace,…