The building was constructed at the end of the 17th century by Juan Fernández de Isla, who had been Bishop of Cádiz since 1676, and then Archbishop of Burgos from 1680 onwards. In these years he ordered the construction of this extensive palace and also restored the parish church, where he established his funerary chapel. He was preceded by Juan Fernández de Isla, a notable Enlightenment figure of the 18th century, creator of the Guarnizo shipyard and of numerous factories in Cantabria, during the reign of Ferdinand VI.
The entire site is surrounded by a high crenellated enclosure, marked by circular towers.
The main building, rectangular in layout and two storeys high, displays its main façade to the south, with a coped arch doorway between recessed pilasters and a projecting balcony flanked by two large coats of arms of the archbishop. Other smaller shields are visible on the corner turrets. Behind this volume appears another set-back building, of similar structure and style, and in the background, in the form of a tower, the private chapel, crowned at its angles by Herrerian pyramids.
The main building follows the model most widely spread throughout the Trasmiera area in the 17th century: a closed appearance, characterised by having on the main façade, oriented to the south, a single arcade, generally in a segmental (escazano) arch, which gives access to a small portico or entry hall, at the back of which is the entrance door, surmounted by a lintel.
