Alfredo Braulio Wiechers Pieretti (1881-1964) was born in Ponce to German father Georg Friederich Wiechers Kelm (1829-1900) and Ponce born of Corsican descent Isabel Pieretti Marsaud (1834-1890). Upon the death of his father, then 19 years old Wiechers came to be under the guardianship of his brother-in-law Juan Lacot, husband of his oldest sister Rosa Wiechers Pieretti. The same year of his father’s death, Juan and Rosa moved to Barcelona and Alfredo started studies at the École Centrale d'Architecture. His first job after graduating in 1905 was in Barcelona at the office of Enric Sagnier, a well known Spanish architect at the time, where he worked until 1910.

After marrying Ponce born Carmen Gilet in 1908 in Barcelona, in 1910 they returned to Puerto Rico, settling in Ponce. In 1912 he built what is known today as the Wiechers-Villaronga Residence where he had his residence and studio. In 1919 he sold the home to Gabriel Villaronga, hence the name given to the property. Among the well known structures designed by Weichers, now demolished, are the Old Santo Asilo de Damas Hospital, the Club Deportivo de Ponce and Dr. William Gelpí residence. Other works by Weichers not pictured below are the Guillermo Torruella Fornaris and Rosa Maria “Rosita” Serrallés Sanchez residence, the Havana Theater in Ponce later the Rivoli after its façade was substantially altered, the Logia Aurora on Calle Salud in Ponce and the Villa Julita aka Casa Ulrich in Aibonito.

His time in Ponce was a short eight years or so but in that time he left his architectural mark on the city. In 1918 Wiechers returned with his family to Spain claiming political persecution related to WWI due to his German ancestry. He never again performed as an architect and died in Barcelona where he was interred at the Montjuïc Cemetery.