The structure of the Mansion of the sugar Baron Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson (1865-1948) is of Italianate architecture with neo-Romanesque columns. In New England, they often were homes to ship's captains with shell-like crowns around the top of the mansion. It is believed that the father of Maria Braga, who was a captain of his own ship, had much influence in the design and architecture of the mansion. It was built after the death of Maria Braga (+1911) and became the residence of their unmarried children. It was the largest residential house ever built at that time. The structure met its sad fate in the early part of World War II when the United States of Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), then guerilla fighters, burnt the mansion to prevent the Japanese forces from utilizing it as their headquarters or garrison. Despite the inferno it underwent, bringing down the roof and the solid wooden floors, the structure has withstood the ravages of time mainly due to the oversized steel bars and the A-grade mixture of concrete used in its construction.
