Residence of Associate Justice and Mrs. Antonio Villa-realResidence of Associate Justice and Mrs. Antonio Villa-real is a Work of National Artist for Architecture Pablo S. Antonio located at Manila, Metro Manila, National Capital Region.
The elegant house designed by Pablo S. Antonio for Associate Justice Antonio and Pacita Villa-real at 620 Vito Cruz Street (then an enclave of the wealthy) sat proudly like a fresh young debutante facing Harrison Park and flanked by the Roces-Legarda house on her right and the Hidalgo-Lim house on her left in the early 1930’s. The beautiful Art Deco style house had spacious and dining and entertainment areas for parties, large bedrooms with adjoining verandahs adorned with thick Art Deco grills, a third floor music room and a tower.
During the Liberation of Manila in February 1944, the Japanese army tried to set the house on fire. After the war, Alicia Villa-real Roces commissioned Pablo S. Antonio to supervise the renovation of the house that she inherited from her parents. 620 Vito Cruz rose from the ashes and was faithfully restored to her former glory and leased out to embassies and other tenants from the 1950's to the 1960's. (Source: The Architectural Legacy of Pablo S. Antonio: 1901-1975)