House of Alvarado-Bracamonte

The inner courtyard is the thing to see. It opens at the heart of the house, and one of its columns has stood there since the building went up in the 17th century. The front and the hall behind it are worth your time as well, and the whole house is built of red volcanic tuff, which gives the stone its warm colour.

This was the residence of the governor of Tenerife and La Palma, and much of what was built then survives. The building is still in use, as the working offices of the city's Historical Heritage Department, with an exhibition hall inside. It belongs on a walk through La Laguna's old streets, where one historic house follows another.

• A tourist information office is inside the house, a good first stop before walking the rest of the old town.
• The building is also the working office of the city council's Historical Heritage Department.
• An exhibition hall inside hosts exhibitions; ask at the tourist office what is on.
• The entrance is wheelchair accessible.
• Free public toilets are about 232 m away.

The house stands in the old town of La Laguna, on streets laid out in the grid that shaped the town's historic centre. Two bus stops are close: Plaza del Adelantado about 123 m away and Deán Palahi about 127 m away, and from either the rest is a walk along old-town streets. Drivers have a car park about 61 m away and a second about 194 m away. With the tourist information office in the house itself, it works as the starting point for a walk around the historic centre.