This home of two former presidents is now a holiday paradise

“Horseback riding is what Hacienda Zuleta is best known for,” says Fernando Polanco Plaza. But some would argue it’s better known for the fact that two late Ecuadorian presidents once lived on the estate. And both are Fernando’s ancestors.

The historic farmstead, two hours’ drive from the Ecuadorian capital Quito, hasn’t always been known as a horse-lover’s paradise. The Caranquis people who originally settled this bucolic valley in Imbabura Province, in Ecuador’s north, were conquered by the Incas in the 1470s. Then the Spanish usurped the Incas. Jesuits later farmed the estate, building the homestead around 1691. A succession of owners followed, with the house steadily expanding in size until Fernando’s family acquired it in 1898.

The new owner’s name was José María Lasso, whose rebellious daughter married Leónidas Plaza, Ecuador’s president for two separate terms in the early 1900s. They had eight children including a son, Galo Plaza Lasso, who followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming president in 1948.

Galo had inherited the hacienda eight years before becoming Ecuador’s leading politician, and he immediately set about modernising the farm, including importing tractors to the country for the first time. He also returned substantial tracts of land to the valley’s original inhabitants, abolished all colonial-era debts and established a school to educate the children of farmworkers and villagers.

We learn all this from Fernando over glasses of Ecuadorian red wine and homemade cheese in the homestead lounge as darkness falls. He’s a natural raconteur, and his storytelling proves the perfect icebreaker between guests who have come to Zuleta from all parts of the world.

The hacienda is the centrepiece of an 1820-hectare working farm that includes a cheese factory, organic garden and trout farm. There’s also an onsite chapel and a sawmill. But equally important is the guest accommodation in rooms once occupied by family members.

After starting with seven guest rooms, there are now 21, with plans for more. My room is called Luz and is named after Luz Avelina Plaza, Galo Plaza Lasso’s second daughter. It opens onto a whitewashed courtyard softened by geraniums and is furnished with colonial pieces and family heirlooms. A log fire wards off the evening chill wrought by the property’s dizzying 3000-metre altitude.

By day, travellers who hanker for a taste of Ecuadorian farm life can also hike up volcanic trails to lookout points or cycle through evergreen countryside to waterfalls. Excursions include guided tours through village shops selling the exquisite embroidery that Zuleta is famous for, or further afield to the market in the city of Otavalo that’s known as the best place in Ecuador for buying ponchos, rugs, jackets and other textiles. Evening meals inside the hacienda dining room are typically Ecuadorian, but with international influences.