This mansion dates back to the 16th century, at least barely 500 years after the founding of the city of Cartagena in 1533. At first the house had a clearly colonial architecture, and even its three white balconies today formed a single gallery in 1889, date on which the illustrious president of Colombia Rafael Núñez gave his speech to the crowd gathered in the Plaza to commemorate the Centennial of the birth of the Cartagenero hero José Fernández de Madrid, whose square bears his name.