Built in 1924 for the Martínez O’Dowd couple, Don Refugio Martínez Elizondo -wholesaler of groceries- and Mrs. María Teresa O’Dowd Abascal, daughter of Patricio O’Dowd, merchant and small industrialist from Ireland.

Over the years, multiple uses have been given to the building that covered both home and office needs. It was the headquarters of the National Chamber of Commerce (CANACO) and in the mid-nineties housed a graphic design firm called Tarín y Contreras.

The house was designed by the architect and engineer Eduardo Daniel Belden, a graduate of the Massachussets Institute of Technology who also carried out works such as the XEW building, the silos of the Galletera Mexicana and the University Hospital in Monterrey, among others. Belden was also director of the School of Architecture at the Universidad de Nuevo León – not yet Autonoma – until his death in 1963.

The house has a «special» design known as Queen Anne Style. In Monterrey it was called a «chalet» and it was characterized by being a house without a central patio, but with a large garden around the building. It has sloping roofs covered with slate, Hle roof or sheets of metal, on the side it has a small tower in the shape of a cone that may be used as a gazer. It is a brick house, reinforced with concrete. It also has a basement.

On the main floor you will find the reception, the library, the reading room “Carmen Alardín” and a comfortable porch for reading. On the upper floors you will find the administrative and editorial areas of the University Editorial House, formerly known as UANL Publications.

Outside the house is the outdoor Forum, space dedicated to book presentations as well as other artistic shows.