The house was built in 1913 for Mr James Rubira and named for his wife Emilia Tajouera Guidotti, an Italian opera singer. She was born in 1865 and died in Surrey Hills on 21 October 1950. James was born in 1863 in Allela, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and died on 8 November 1935 in Surrey Hills. They married in Victoria in 1892. They married in 1892. James's mother was a member of the Parer family. The Rubiras and the Parers were among a number of Spanish families who began to migrate to Australia in the 1860s. James' mother was Teresa Florentina Lluisa Parer. Many of the families settled in Box Hill and then Surrey Hills by the 1900s. The Rubiras and the Parers established and supplied a number of high-class restaurants and hotels in Melbourne.Coloured image of an Edwardian style brick house at 4 Albany Crescent, Surrey Hills. It shows the path up to the house with the garden on each side. There is a fountain in the garden on the LHS of the path.On rear in blue pen: "Mr Rubira's House / per / A Noack (underlined) / Albany Cres"emilia villa, house names, 1913, singers, spanish community, italian community, ethnic communities, parer family, albany crescent, surrey hills, restaurants, hotels, edwardian style, mr james rubira, mrs emilia rubira, miss emilia tajouera guidotti