Between 1892 and 1900 in this adobe house amidst agricultural lands and imposing mountains, Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, also known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral, spent her childhood. In 1892 the first Montegrande Girls' School was established in the house. Emelina Molina, Gabriela's older half-sister, at 18-years-old was put in charge of the school where she also lived. Later, her mother Petronila Alcayaga came to live with her, bringing along the youngest daughter Gabriel who was almost three years old. The three women lived in the back while the main room was the classroom. Gabriel became an accomplished schoolteacher as well as a highly respected poet. In 1945 she was the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature. Photography was not allowed inside the building or in the interior garden.