URBAN ROUTE

Mendia House

The Mendia House was the first house with elevator in Zumarraga. It was built in 1958 in two phases. At first, Ramón Mendia, son of a neighbor who emigrated to Cuba where he made his fortune, came back and built the house. Ramón had hardware stores, in fact, one of them was in the arcades; he lived very well, but he decided to build more floors on top and went bankrupt with that work and the bank kept the building.

The Irimo company, a well-known tool company in the area, bought several apartments for its managers; Irimo later sold the houses to its workers and ceased to be the owner.

The apartments in this building are large. They have two bathrooms for each family and the ceilings are high… it is built with quality material and has a large communal roof terrace.

The Orbegozo company’s commissary was also downstairs, but the company closed.