The Casa Rosada, or Pink House, is the seat of the executive branch of Argentine government. Located facing the Plaza de Mayo, the Casa Rosada is an Italianate-style building dating from the 1870s. Built on the site of earlier colonial official buildings, the presidential palace was painted pink, accoding to legend, by the decree of then president Domingo Faustino Sarmiento who chose the color to harmonize the volatile sentiments of the red and white colors of opposing political parties.