National Register of Historic Places

Villa Victoria

San Juan, San Juan County, Puerto Rico
Listed
January 6, 2015
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
14001135

About this property

Villa Victoria is a historic house located in the Santurce area of the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Formerly a private single-family residence, Villa Victoria has served as a local chapter and the San Juan headquarters of the YWCA since 1955, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015 and to the Puerto Rico Register of Historic Sites and Zones in 2000. Built in a French Colonial-style popular at the time, Villa Victoria dates to the early 20th-century. No record of the architect or builder exists, but records from 1917 show that it was built at a time of urban residential expansion in the Miramar area of Santurce which was the result of a population boom and the establishment of the Carretera Central that linked San Juan to Ponce. Although built after the American occupation of Puerto Rico, its building methods evoke the traditional techniques of residential building construction from the Spanish colonial period during the 19th century. This type of residential construction was very typical in Miramar during the period between 1900 and 1920. Its first documented owners were Thomas George Waymouth and his wife, of the Waymouth Estate Company, followed by Ramón Mora and wife Teresa Nicolao. Records show that in 1940 it was bought by Jenaro Suárez and wife Ethel Natalie Wigmore, under whom Villa Victoria underwent numerous renovations with the addition of plumbing and electrical infrastructure. It was then purchased by Irma Cuevas de Kearney and Marianne Goettsch in 1955 on behalf of the YWCA, when the internal partitions of the first floor were demolished. Today it remains as the Puerto Rico headquarters of said organization and it also hosts a local chapter.

Location

905 Ponce de Leon Ave.
San Juan, San Juan County, Puerto Rico
18.45449, -66.08009

Categories

SOCIAL HISTORY
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

House at 659 Concordia Street
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0.1 mi
Edificio Aboy
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0.2 mi
Residencia Aboy-Lompre
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0.2 mi
House at 659 La Paz Street
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Colegio de las Madres del Sagrado Corazon
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0.2 mi

Nearby Battles

Naval Bombardment of San Juan (Puerto Rico)
1898Frontier
1.8 mi
Ponce de León Conquest of Puerto Rico 1508
1508Colonial
1.8 mi
Carib Raids on Puerto Rico 1514–1530
1514Colonial
1.8 mi
Bombardment of San Juan (Puerto Rico 1898)
1898Frontier
1.8 mi

Questions about this property

When was Villa Victoria listed on the National Register?

Villa Victoria was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 6, 2015.

What type of historic resource is Villa Victoria?

Villa Victoria is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Villa Victoria?

The period of significance for Villa Victoria is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Villa Victoria?

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