Terraced Houses on Doctor Allart Street

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

On Doctor Allart Street (formerly Sol Street and once one of the busiest in the city) there is still a group of buildings that help us understand what Santa Cruz was like before becoming a modern city. These houses, called "terreras," serve as a concrete example of an architectural typology that was abundant in the city and has now almost disappeared.

The terraced house was a common housing model during the first centuries of the settlement's existence. Its general configuration varied little: one or two rooms at the front; from these, a courtyard opened, around which, or rather on one side of it, ran a narrow corridor giving access to the rest of the rooms. At the rear of the house, where the corridor ended, there was usually a small space intended as a pen for animals or a small vegetable garden. It was here, next to the rear boundary wall, where the kitchen was located.

The walls of these buildings were usually made of load-bearing walls, rammed earth of stone and clay, on which the roof was placed with overlapping Arabic tiles, pitched, and commonly with a slightly projecting eave. From the 18th century onwards, the custom of a plinth, just over a metre high, was imposed, which would become a characteristic element of the façade.

The importance of the building was marked by the number of rooms, their size, and the quality and craftsmanship in the woodwork of the doors and windows; carving work that could be very varied in motifs.

At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, the terraced house fell into absolute disrepute. It was considered a sign of backwardness, poverty, and an element that spoiled the urban landscape. The citizens, through the local press and institutions, came to believe that the disappearance of this type of housing was necessary. The plots resulting from their demolition were occupied by buildings with much greater volume, leading to consequent urban speculation.

The terraced house was for a long time the usual building, not only in Santa Cruz but in all the Canary Islands settlements.

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