Description
A unique 17th century mansion built in 1670 for the island's military governor. When the nearby port of Garachico was flooded by lava during an eruption of the Teide volcano in 1706, the island's port was moved to Santa Cruz. The governor also moved to Santa Cruz and the house lost its original purpose. The use of the house in subsequent years is only vaguely known. However, there is a copy of an escritura of the house dated 1923 and it is known that at that time there was a small shop at the front of the house where Nelson's study is now located, selling household goods. When the current owners acquired the house in 2004, it had already been empty for 15 years. They have spent the last 18 years restoring the house, using as much of the original stones as possible and the teawood, a heavy, resinous pine native to Tenerife and La Palma and resistant to termites. Originally the ground floor was used mainly for stabling horses and most of the surrounding houses were used for the Governor's staff at the time. The ground floor, next to the main entrance, now houses the India Room, with furniture and artefacts brought from India by the current owners, and the study, with paintings and memorabilia of Admiral Nelson, who attacked Tenerife and lost not only the battle but also his arm. Other paintings in this room depict Shakespeare, Henry 8th of England and his 6 wives, including his first wife Catherine of Aragon, the Tsar and Tsarina of Russia. There is also a lovely working fireplace. Through the entrance hall you enter the central courtyard, which now houses a fish pond with a central fountain and is surrounded by ferns and stone seating. Next to the doors to the Indian Room and Study, you have access to the lift which takes you to the two floors above and to the gallery which houses 18 paintings of the Virgin Mary, painted by various artists but all giving the fascinating, sublime impression of calm and serenity. There is also an exquisitely carved cabinet, desk and chair believed to have belonged to an elite peninsula lawyer and three Masonic chairs which belonged to the current owners of Masonic Temples in central London. At the end of the courtyard are two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and shower rooms. To the right is the entrance to a small shaded courtyard which the window of the adjoining shower room looks out onto and an adjoining room used as a sewing room. Next to the main staircase is the entrance to the not quite finished area which houses an office with three further rooms and another large entrance door facing the street and an entrance to the upper level of the garden. Through the courtyard exit door one enters the cloakroom of the house with a fountain in front and then up a flight of stairs into the garden and up a flight of stairs over the water tank for water storage of the private 2 fresh water sources for the house and laundry, with a casual cooking area and stone table and benches overlooking the garden. Up a stone flight of stairs one reaches the first floor where the dining table is located for casual cooking, there is another collection of blue and white china similar to and complementing that in the main kitchen. From the patio one takes the main tea wood staircase to the large landing which leads into the three main rooms of the Drawing Room, Sitting Room and Dining Room, all of which are interconnected. All three rooms are furnished with antique furniture, an abundance of paintings, wall consoles and chandeliers. Off the dining room which seats 12 people there is an enclosed tea wood balcony overlooking the garden. The curtains in these rooms and throughout the house were made by the Davila family, who have made curtains for Buckingham Palace and many aristocratic homes in England with the best designers. The kitchen leads off the dining room and also has a door to the living room and main hallway. Two antique carved sideboards and a carved cupboard with a kitchen table with six antique chairs and functional storage dominate the room, with marble surfaces where appropriate and a large collection of blue and white porcelain on the walls. All appliances are electric to take climate change into account: 2 Zanussi ovens, a Samsung fridge/freezer, 2 Lazer 3-ring induction plates, an electric salamander, a Bosch microwave and a Siemens steam oven. From the main landing, which houses 5 marble side tables with Chinese pots and a fascinating collection of religious statues from around the world on the walls, two doors lead to a triangular passageway over the central courtyard with three bedrooms, two with sumptuous four poster beds and one with a corona, all with en-suite bathrooms and showers. The passageway leads to the fourth bedroom with an adjoining room used as a dressing room but can also double as a shower room and wardrobe. From the main hallway, stairs and the lift lead to the library and the second floor roof terrace above. The library runs the length of the house and houses an extensive collection of books, mainly in English but also in Spanish and French, on many subjects from history to cooking and gardening to novels, dictionaries and encyclopedias, as well as art on the walls where there is space! Two doors lead to the roof terrace which has wonderful views of the Drago tree and park and the Teide volcano on one side and the banana fields and sea on the other. The patio is decorated with statues of griffins and dragons and plant troughs. The garden of the house is laid out in three height levels. It has another entrance facing the street and the side door could have been the entrance of number 9 as the house currently has two numbers 7 and 9, number 9 no longer exists. In the garden next to the house there is a storage room and a pump room for the water system in the house. The plot is urban and can be built on subject to planning permission. An expired planning permission for a double garage was recently granted to the current owners but not carried out. However, there are many ideas depending on the use of the main house. If the house is to be retained as a residence this could well be a garage with staff quarters above. The neighborhood is very quiet. The street is a cul-de-sac at the end of which is the Chapel of Las Angustias with the famous statue of Mary of Angustias which was loaned to the Museum in Madrid last year and has only just been returned.
