White, symmetrical and facing the river, the Palacio de López is Paraguay's most recognizable postcard. Its neoclassical style with Palladian touches, arched galleries and central tower are best admired from the esplanade and from the Costanera, especially in the late afternoon when the lights come on. As the official seat of the Presidency, it can usually only be enjoyed from the outside. Across the way opens the Bay of Asunción, and just steps away the Manzana de la Rivera and the Cabildo round out the stroll.

Carlos Antonio López ordered its construction in 1857 as a residence for his son, Francisco Solano López, with English master builder Alonso Taylor and Hungarian engineer Francisco Wisner de Morgenstern involved in the project. Solano López never got to live in it: the War of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870) caught it unfinished, and during the seven-year Allied occupation of Asunción it served as barracks for Brazilian forces. Restored at the end of the 19th century, it only began functioning as the seat of government under Juan Bautista Egusquiza, in 1894.