Regal House

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Civil architecture · Year: 1702

This house is one of the best examples of early 18th-century domestic architecture still preserved in present-day Santa Cruz.

Built in 1702 at the initiative of the Italian-born merchant Andrés Regal, it was initially constructed as a single storey. Located on the other side of the Los Frailes ravine, whose course now runs beneath Ruiz de Padrón Street, it was one of the first buildings situated in what later became known as the El Toscal neighbourhood.

It seems that by 1729 the house already had the two floors it retains today. Its floor plan is rectangular and very elongated due to the configuration of the plot. Its main entrance faces San Francisco Street, where we find a deep entrance hall. From there, we access a square courtyard, where a wooden staircase leads us to the upper floor gallery that overlooks all four sides of the courtyard. The rooms are spacious and tall. On its exterior, alongside the sash windows, stands a beautiful covered balcony situated above the main door, made of wood with latticework not only behind the balusters but also above the parapets, from where one could see without being seen.

In 1852 the property was rented to the pharmacist José Suárez Gómez (father of the prominent figure José Suárez Guerra), who established his pharmacy on the ground floor of the house. In 1918 the heirs of Suárez Guerra sold the house to another pharmacist, this time Evaristo Cristellys, with the pharmacy remaining in use until 2002. Throughout its history, the building also housed several consular offices: first the US consulate and later the Austrian consulate. It currently houses a restaurant.

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