The house was officially opened in 1918, and in that same year King Alfonso XIII stayed there. During the Spanish Civil War, several battalions of Basque troops were quartered there. After the war Artaza reverted to being the permanent residence of the Chávarri family, and indeed was used by their descendants as a summer home up to 1979. Over the years the visitors' book of the house was signed by many leading personalities from the worlds of society and politics. The building has been owned by the Basque Government since 1989, and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia now maintains the gardens as a public park.