The Palacio Sara Braun is the grandest of the merchant palaces, built between 1894 and 1905 for the Russian-born widow of José Nogueira, who at the time was probably the richest woman in Chile. Sara Braun ran the family sheep estancias, shipping lines and import houses for decades after her husband's death, and the house was conceived to make that wealth visible: French Second Empire on the outside, all gilded panelling and marble inside.
Today the building is shared between the private Club de la Unión, which still uses the main reception rooms, and a small museum that lets visitors walk through the ballroom, the winter garden and the bedrooms. It is also home to one of the best (and most atmospheric) bars in the city, the Taberna del Club de la Unión, in the cellars.