Richardson House

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Civil architecture · Year: 1895 · Authors: Manuel de Cámara

This two-storey terraced house was designed at the beginning of 1895 by the architect Manuel de Cámara for the owner Enrique Richardson García.

The building, of clear eclectic style, has two façades. The main one, facing Suárez Guerra street (formerly San Roque), is quite simple in its composition, with three symmetrical openings per floor: on the ground floor, two windows and a door; on the upper floor, three large openings with independent balconies and metal railings.

But the most interesting area of the house is found at the rear, facing San Lucas street. Here we can see what remains of a back garden, enclosed by an elegant grille giving access to a façade where in the centre of its lower part there was once an entrance crowned by a semicircular arch. The entrance was preceded by a porch from which hung a lambrequin (small decoration placed on the eaves) that beautified the whole ensemble. At the top we can still observe a curious enclosed lookout in the manner of English "bow windows".  

Today the entire building is in a lamentable state of ruin; it is a pity, as it is one of the most original projects by the architect Manuel de Cámara.

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