This rustic residence is in perhaps the Old City's choicest location, atop a verdant hilltop overlooking the Atlantic coastline at the entrance to San Juan Bay, housed the family of Puerto Rico's first governor, Juan Ponce de Leon, for 2.5 centuries after his death in 1519, then became a residence for first Spanish, and then American military officers. Today, a museum bearing the Conquistador's name takes visitors back in time in a meandering tour through what 16th- through 18th-century furnishings, dress, and kitchen utensils from the time looked like. The simple Spanish colonial structure is made beautiful by its furniture, paintings, and other works of art. Yet, its vast garden, dense with spraying fountains, singing birds, and colorful tropical trees and plants, is its finest feature.