The Guzmán Marcos house, with art nouveau style, is a work by Francisco Maccaferri in the first decades of the twentieth century (1927-1929). The house belonged to married couple Walter Guzmán Aspiazu (Hamburg 1896 – 1981) and Maria Violeta Mercedes Marcos Ycaza (Guayaquil 1905 – 2002), who were known cacao farmers in the area.
Between 1870 and 1920 Ecuador was the first producer and cacao exporter in the world, and the cacao storages were located at the banks of Guayas River.
For a long time it was believed that cacao originated in Mesoamerica. Today scientific research shows that the origin is in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Natives knew about cacao more than 5,300 years B.C, much earlier than in Mesoamerica. The found vestiges that support this scientific fact are located in the southeast region of Ecuador, in a settlement of the “Mayo Chinchipe” culture in the province of Zamora Chinchipe. The cacao found in Zamora Chinchipe, is affiliated with the National variety of “Fino Aroma”, which is characteristic of Ecuador andwas given the name of Cacao de Arriba (Cacao from Above) since the 19th century w (which was used to describe that the cacao that was commercialized from Guayaquil came from upriver Daule)
