The house was owned by Genaro Cautiño Vázquez, a wealthy Guayama landowner as well as a colonel of the Volunteer Battalion of the Spanish Army.

Also, a tunnel still exists linking Casa Cautiño, the annex house and Iglesia San Antonio.

The U-shaped structure is one-story with an interior patio, which local architect Manual Texidor built in 1887 after graduation from the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris.

It features some of the elements of the Neoclassical architecture style, such as cornices, pilasters, candelabra, Roman arches, relief motifs, and classical ornamentation.

These elements were blended with some of the details of the popular architecture of the southern area of Puerto Rico that prevailed when the structure was built.