This article -based on the study of contemporary wills, lawsuits, letters, newspapers and memoirs- reconstructs certain aspects of the privae life of the upper class of Valparaíso in the 19th century: their houses, their marriages, their values and ideals, and their home life and pastimes. During the period covered by this study it is possible to observe certain changes in a significant part of this group. Thus, during the last third of the century the plain hose gave way to the mansion: money and ostentation became increasingly important, weakening the old alues of hard work, sobriety and family unity among the Valparaíso élite. Without exploring the more profound reasons for this evolution, the author suggests that this could be due to the admiration with which that sector regarded the upper class of Santiago, given that the new Iifestyle adopted was practically the same as the one of the élites in the capital.