Ascanio-Monteverde Mansion

In 1928 construction began on what, from 1975 on, have been the facilities of the Liceo Taoro, the most traditional and deep-rooted social club in the Orotava Valley, an institution founded in 1855 under the name of  Falansterio de Taoro (The Taoro phalanstery).

This imposing mansion was the personal project of the couple integrated by Mr. Tomás Ascanio and Méndez de Lugo and his wife, Mrs. Catalina de Monteverde and Lugo, who had contracted their first nuptials in 1905.

Unlike what is often claimed, the design of this historic Tenerife mansion was not made by Mr. Mariano de Estanga, the most famous and prolific architect of the island in those years, but was inspired by architecture magazines of the time, responding to the canons of what at that time was considered the paradigm of elegance.

Eclectic in style, this Tenerife palace sits on top of a promontory and extends its gardens to the main square of the town of Orotava, so it is unquestionable that its construction is due to an unavoidable desire to show the social preeminence that this wealthy landowning family had in its locality and area of influence, the north of Tenerife in a broad sense.

It is from the Constitution Square, or more traditionally, the so-called “Kiosk Square”, from where you can best appreciate the majesty of the mansion to which we dedicate this article. The iron fence that surrounds the property, is flattened by two pillars crowned in separate pots at the height of the square, giving way to a central staircase that leads to the main entrance, but also to two side branches for access to the vehicles, all surrounded by a splendid garden with a multitude of small pergolas, balustrades and light period constructions that follow one another on the different terraces on which the garden sits.

Once arrived at the main entrance of the building which shows three heights without counting basements, we discover a new access staircase to the wide balustrade terrace, which is finished off with the famous “hydraulic colored tiles” floors that were so common in all the constructions of the first third of the 20th century in Tenerife.

In the main hall of the house, you see the classical wooden floors of Canarian pine, tea, the great monumental staircase, also made of tea wood, the very high baseboards covering half the wall, also in tea wood and the high ceilings, in what is guessed a luxury construction for the standards of the time and where the presence of wood is pre-eminent.

However, the best thing about this once luxurious Canarian mansion is the harmonious combination that the beautiful main body of the building has with the extensive gardens that surround it in the heart of the Orotava village. A luxury of historical legacy, that delights the sight of all those who visit this beautiful town in the North of Tenerife.