“You should see the gold cuffs I inherited from Mama, Toto.” a dear lady friend of Old Leyte lineage told me.
I have been fascinated with Filipino Colonial Jewelry for many years now…
Filipino Colonial Jewelry
August 22, 2009 at 3:28 pm (1800s Filipinas, 1900s Philippines, 19th century Filipino Art, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Past, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)
“Maleldo 2009″
April 13, 2009 at 10:11 am (19th century Filipino Art, Family Traditions, Gonzalez de Sulipan, Pampanga Art, Pampanga Cuisine, Pampanga Traditions, Personal, Random memories, Religious Traditions, Rodriguez de Bacolor, The Manilenos, The Pampanguenos)
Flores, not Bella
November 20, 2008 at 3:25 pm (19th century Filipino Art, Filipino Art, Humor, Manila Houses, Personal, Random memories, The Cebuanos, The Davaoenos, The Global Crowd, The Ilocanos, The Ilonggos, The Laguna Tagalogs, The Manilenos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos, The Tarlaquenos, The Tayabenses / Quezonians)
At elegant dinners, especially in the company of highly accomplished and therefore superior individuals, one is supposed to converse intelligently, eloquently, elegantly, with just the right dash of razor sharp wit, not too much and not too little. One never crosses the line from sophistication to ordinariness. You’re NOT supposed to talk about those bags at “Louis Vuitton” nor those shoes at “Salvatore Ferragamo” at Greenbelt IV [ even if yes, they are nice ]… so terribly gauche to do that. You’re supposed to discuss “higher concerns”: the latest scientific discoveries, for example. That was how the lively conversations went at my uncle Brother Andrew’s dinners and lunches. But then, eternal and worldly child that I am, I have retained a healthy disregard for social conventions…
We were at a lovely formal dinner at a European embassy residence to welcome an important personage. I looked good and smelled nice because it had characteristically taken me ages to put myself together. Knowing that I would be in “elevated” company, and to ensure that my conversation would not be banal and stupid amid cerebral heavyweights, I mentally summoned my rusty knowledge of the great European thinkers 18th century to contemporary, the philosophers, the “encyclopedistes,” as well as the very latest from CNN, Fox, Bloomberg, and the rest of Cable TV, the “Cartoon Network” and “Nickelodeon” included. I was “thus armed” for the dinner table…
*unfinished*
Intramuros of Lost Memory
September 24, 2008 at 2:10 pm (19th century Filipino Art, Angst, Architecture, Design and Decoration, Filipino Art, Random memories, Religious Traditions, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos, Tristesse)
There are those who say that Intramuros should be preserved because of its sheer historical importance: for hundreds of years before 1571 it was the site of the flourishing settlement of “Maynilad” ruled by the Tagalog rajahs of ancient Malay history; from 1571 – 1898 it was Manila, the colonial capital of “Las Islas Filipinas” and the seat of the Spanish Empire as well as of the Roman Catholic Church in the Far East; from 1898 - 1941 it was part of the rapidly expanding American colonial city of Manila, which at that time was one of the most progressive and beautiful cities in Asia when Hong Kong, Singapore, and Bangkok were mere towns and backward settlements. Filipino History happened in Intramuros, as simple as that; one wonders why some intellectually-challenged quarters of Filipino Society have such difficulty understanding that fact.
There are those who say that the dead Walled City of Intramuros is a useless remnant of Spanish colonial oppression, that the resources of the nation can be directed towards more productive economic activities that will benefit a larger percentage of the Filipino people. Yes of course, productive economic activities that benefit our admirable, truly hardworking, and frugal government officials and politicians.
Then there are the local politicians who want to conserve and increase the ranks of the “informal settlers” [ one of those odd new "politically-correct" terms; the term is more incorrect than the former "squatters" because it reduces our less fortunate brothers to something akin to supernatural elementals or even extraterrestrials ] in the area because of the sheer number of their votes come election time.
It is during “pointless” cultural debates like these that I frankly miss the Marcos Era. During that time, what President Ferdinand Marcos and Madame Imelda Romualdez-Marcos wanted just happened. Period.
If one opposed them, he just “disappeared” from the face of the world.
To quote a disco song from the 1970s: “That’s the way uhuh uhuh I like it!!! Uhuh uhuh!!! That’s the way uhuh uhuh I like it!!!”
One has to take a stand on things. This is mine.
“Wherever Sugar Grew”
August 8, 2007 at 2:23 pm (19th century Filipino Art, Architecture, Design and Decoration, Domestic Travels, Random memories, The Ilonggos, The Negrenses, The Pampanguenos)
Many years ago, Joey Panlilio asked his grandmother, the regal and enduringly lovely Dona Luz Sarmiento de Panlilio, where the most beautiful old houses — needless to say the most beautiful antiques — in the Philippines could be found, and She answered simply: “Hijo, Wherever Sugar Grew…”
That meant Pampanga, Bulacan, Batangas, Iloilo, and Negros.
Of course, She was right.
Holy Week blues
April 13, 2007 at 6:29 pm (19th century Filipino Art, Arnedo de Sulipan, Domestic Travels, Escaler de Sulipan, Family Traditions, Gonzalez de Sulipan, Pampanga Traditions, Random memories, The Pampanguenos)
It is my ambition to be a normal Filipino and flee the city during the annual Holy Week break and head off to some interesting and “happening” destination like [ the usual ] Boracay island, Bohol, Palawan, Camiguin, Siargao, Bali, Phuket, Chiang Mai, the Maldives, even Madagascar…
Or even to Sevilla, Espana to witness the hieratic ”Viernes Santo Madrugada” Procession of the legendary ”Nuestra Madre y Senora de la Esperanza Macarena”…
Unfortunately, it just isn’t possible. I am the one solely responsible for the maintenance of the family traditions during Holy Week in the Espiritu, Arnedo, Escaler, and Gonzalez hometown of Apalit, Pampanga. If I don’t go, nothing will happen.
The Untold Splendors of Old Pampanga
February 27, 2007 at 7:50 pm (19th century Filipino Art, Architecture, Arnedo de Sulipan, Design and Decoration, Escaler de Sulipan, Filipino Art, Gonzalez de Sulipan, Manila Houses, Pampanga Art, Quiason de San Fernando, Random memories, Religious Traditions, Reyes de Arayat, Rodriguez de Bacolor, The Global Crowd, The Manilenos, The Pampanguenos)
In the late afternoons, a group of affluent Filipiniana collectors and connoisseurs, as well as authorities, scholars, and researchers, gathers at the eminent Filipiniana scholar Ramon “Boy” Villegas’ “Katutubo” Arts & Crafts at the LaO’ Center in Makati to catch up on the latest in the uppermost echelons of the Manila Art and Antique World. The conversations are invariably interesting, as the friends discuss the latest important finds on the market and express their interest in the rarest objects, generously peppered with, of course, the latest unsavory but interesting doings of Manila Society.
Usually, the conversations steer to the highly-desirable heirlooms of the “de buena familia” Old Families. And more than the Negrense, Cebuano, Batangueno, Laguna Tagalog, Ilocano, and even Manila families, The Pampango families and their storied holdings are the ones most often discussed.
I have always suggested to my good friend Ramon “Boy” Villegas that the Metropolitan Museum of Manila should mount an exhibition — one that will certainly be a blockbuster — themed and titled “The Splendors of Old Pampanga.” I also suggested the idea to another good friend, Corazon “Cora” Alvina, formerly the head of the Metropolitan Museum and presently the head of the National Museum, and while she thought it was a wonderful idea, she bowed and shook her head sadly when she realized the enormous insurance costs that such a magnificent exhibition would entail…
“La Inmaculada Concepcion”
December 20, 2006 at 3:01 pm (19th century Filipino Art, Random memories, Religious Traditions, The Manilenos)
*unfinished*
A dinner in Old San Miguel District
December 11, 2006 at 9:49 am (19th century Filipino Art, Architecture, Design and Decoration, Manila Houses, Random memories, The Global Crowd, The Ilonggos, The Manilenos, The Negrenses)
Yesterday evening, I found this journal entry of 30 May 2000, Tuesday, 1400 hours:
“”I had a marvelous evening last night. Joey [ Panlilio ] hosted a birthday dinner for Cora Alvina at Suzette Legarda Montinola’s ‘La Cocina de Tita Moning’ in the PreWar Legarda-Hernandez residence at # 315 San Rafael Street, San Miguel District, Manila. Also present were Toti and Dorla Villalon, Gilda Cordero Fernando, Becky [ Quema ] de los Reyes, Ino Manalo [ quite a revelation! ], Boni Pimentel, Boy Villegas, and Sonny Tinio [ surprise, surprise, surprise!!! ]. It was a lovely, lovely dinner…”
“I was the last to arrive at 7:45 p.m.. The house had so much atmosphere — ‘Stimmung’!!! As Joey mentioned beforehand, it reminded me very much of our own family home in Quezon City: imposing architecture, a nice garden, lights all around. One entered through a porte-cochere to a foyer with a stairway, a clinic on the left and a library to the right. On the second floor, a small vestibule with an imposing Venetian mirror led to the ‘Sala’ [ living room ] on the left and to the ‘Comedor’ [ dining room ]on the right.”
“The square ‘Sala’ was painted a light blue-green, a very European, nay very English color. An imposing Spanish chandelier hung from the ceiling. On the main wall, opposite the windows, hung a large painting by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo [ !!! ] of a lovely young woman [ in what looked like night clothes ] dated 1901. Gorgeous!!! On a wall adjacent to the window was a folder-size painting by Juan Luna [ !!! ] of a lady in a black dress. She seemed to be scratching her back while the young lady [ of Hidalgo ] did not seem to have taken a bath yet. When I mentioned this irreverently to Sonny Tinio, he gave me a ten-ton glare — so typical of him!!!”
“The ‘Comedor’ had a long dining table with Art Deco-style Puyat dining chairs. There were two round tables on one side, one of them marble-topped. There were three cabinets: one contained silverware, another one contained silver and porcelain [ remarkable was a Meissen covered dish with a putto on the lid, its arm broken ], and a third contained only crystal. Beautiful Meissen plates in dark blue and gold with flowers from the ancestral porcelain service of the Tuason-Legarda-Prieto-Valdes Clan hung on the walls. The table was elegantly set with PreWar Heacock chinaware, Art Deco-style sterling silver flatware, and 1930s green American glassware, all on an exquisite tablecloth of tatting lace, laden with fresh flowers.”
“The menu consisted of Pumpkin Soup, Baked Lapu-Lapu with an Avocado Salad, homemade Mango Sherbet, ‘Lengua en Salsa Blanca,’ ‘Arroz ala Valenciana,’ Mixed Greens Salad, Cheese and Fruit platter, the justly famous Bread Pudding of ‘Tita Moning,’ to coffee, tea, and candy. It was a delicious meal with all the flavors, scents, and nuances of home…”
“Conversation was lively, what with the utterly fascinating group. Sometimes funny, sometimes bitchy, but always fascinating…!!!”"
Memorable Manila Houses
November 12, 2006 at 7:52 am (19th century Filipino Art, Architecture, Design and Decoration, Filipino Art, Manila Houses, Random memories, The Manilenos)
There were many beautiful houses in Manila…
In the 1800s:
The Paterno residence, Calle San Sebastian, Quiapo [ now R. Hidalgo Street ]. According to the privately-circulated Paterno monograph, it was originally a Zamora residence; it devolved to the Paterno family when a Zamora heiress married a Paterno scion. It is a magnificent example of mid-19th century aristocratic Filipino residential architecture. It is still extant although deteriorated with its innumerable tenants.
The Don Maximino “Memo” Paterno residence, Calle Azcarraga [ now Claro M. Recto Avenue ], Quiapo. It was the residence of the famous “Capitan Memo” Paterno of Santa Cruz, Manila, who married three times: the first to Senorita Valeriana Pineda, the second to Valeriana’s cousin Senorita Carminda Devera Ygnacio, and the third to Carminda’s sister, Senorita Teodora Devera Ygnacio. The opulent, late 1800s, European-style interiors of Capitan Memo’s magnificent Santa Cruz residence are immortalized in a series of photographs kept by the descendants.
The Don Ramon Genato residence, Calle San Sebastian, Quiapo.
The Don Gonzalo Tuason y Patino residence, Santa Ana.
The Don Pedro Syquia and Dona Asuncion Michels de Champourcin y Ventura residence, Tondo [ the facade is incorporated into the present Tutuban mall; it was the former Tutuban railroad station ].
Don Pedro Syquia amassed a great fortune in trading. At the height of his success, it was said that he owned 10 % of the real estate of Manila and its surrounding “arrabales” districts.
When the Pedro Syquias sold the Tondo house to move to the newly fashionable Ermita district, the “Table of the Sphinxes” the big marble table was purchased by the Escuderos of San Pablo, Laguna, and the biggest French crystal chandelier in the sala was purchased by the Malacanang Palace.
The Dona Adela Paterno residence, Calle General Solano, San Miguel District. After The War, the house contained a concentration of Paterno heirlooms from the other great family houses: magnificent ancestral portraits by 19th century Filipino masters Severino Flavier Pablo and Justiniano Asuncion and splendid late 19th century furniture by Filipino and Chinese master cabinetmakers. Unfortunately, Dona Adela Paterno was a spinster who had no direct heirs: the house and the magnificent, ages-old Paterno heirlooms were inherited by wards who deaccessioned everything and the house was consequently demolished in the late 1980s.
The Don Pedro Pablo “Perico” Roxas y de Castro and Dona Carmen de Ayala y Roxas residence, Calle General Solano, San Miguel District. It was a masterpiece of the patrician architect Don Felix Roxas y Arroyo [ Sr. ], who was both Don Pedro’s and Dona Carmen’s uncle. Don Felix Roxas y Arroyo [ Sr. ] was a first cousin of Don Pedro’s father, Don Jose Bonifacio Roxas y Ubaldo, and his sister, Dona Margarita Roxas de Ayala, Dona Carmen’s mother. Don Pedro and Dona Carmen were first cousins.
The facade of the house featured a pair of inwardly curving stone stairs.
The very elegant 1890s Wedding of Senorita Margarita Roxas y de Ayala to the Spanish Engineer Don Eduardo Soriano y Sanz was held in the house.
Senior ladies remember it as the elegant house from which Ramona “Ramonita” Roxas y Gargollo [ daughter of Don Antonio Roxas de Ayala and Dona Carmen Gargollo; granddaughter of Don Pedro Pablo Roxas and Dona Carmen de Ayala ] emerged for her wedding to Mr. Fernandez in the 1930s.
The Don Jacobo Zobel y Zangroniz and Dona Trinidad de Ayala y Roxas residence, Calle General Solano, San Miguel District.
The Don Rafael Enriquez residence, Calle San Sebastian, Quiapo. It was another masterpiece of the patrician architect Don Felix Roxas y Arroyo [ Sr. ]. However, by the 1980s, its splendid interior architectural details had already disappeared. The small, principal staircase was certainly not in consonance with the architect’s original vision and it seemed to be a PostWar replacement. It was once used as The School of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines. Transferred and faithfully reassembled in 2007, it now stands at the “Real de Acuzar” Complex in Bagac, Bataan.
The Eugster residence, Calle General Solano, San Miguel District. It was later acquired by the prominent lawyer Don Jose Moreno Lacalle in the 1890s. Afterwards, it was acquired by the industrialist Don Michael Goldenberg. It was forcibly acquired by Madame Imelda Romualdez Marcos from the Goldenberg family in the early 1970s. It is the most elegant extant example of late 19th century Filipino residential architecture.
The Don Mariano Limjap residence, Calle General Solano, San Miguel District.
Don Mariano Limjap was an immensely rich man and it is said that He left +- Php 10 million to each of his 10 children upon his death in the early 1900s [ His Estate must have been worth Php 100 million ].
The mansion stood at the foot of the Ayala Bridge. It was destroyed by bombs during The War.
The Don Faustino Lichauco and Dona Luisa Fernandez residence, Calle General Solano, San Miguel District.
A Lichauco daughter recalled that there was a hallway in the house that was luxuriously lined with a succession of large Venetian mirrors on both sides.
The Don Rafael and Don Joaquin Ynchausti residence, Calle Cortabitarte, Malate District.
In the early 1900s:
The Don Gregorio Araneta y Soriano and Dona Carmen Zaragoza y Roxas residence, Calle San Sebastian, Quiapo.
It actually survived The War, but it did not survive a defective light bulb in a closet.
The Don Ariston Bautista y Lin and Dona Petrona Nakpil residence, Calle Barbosa [ now Bautista Street ], Quiapo. It was designed by the architect Arcadio Arellano in 1914. Its architectural details were avant garde for its time. Don Ariston and his wife Dona Petrona were childless. The house devolved to Dona Petrona’s brother, Julio Nakpil, who had married the revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio’s widow, Gregoria de Jesus. Their son, Juan Nakpil, was a leading Filipino architect.
The residence is remarkably well-preserved. Its conservation is a testament to the high intellectual and artistic traditions of the prominent Nakpil family. The original Vienna Secession-style furniture still exists in the houses of various Nakpil descendants.
The Don Felipe Hidalgo y Kleimpell residence, Calle San Sebastian, Quiapo. The Neo-Gothic detailed house was famous for the eccentric, all-encompassing collection of Don Felipe Hidalgo, a descendant of the venerable Padilla family and a nephew of the great nationalist painter Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo. The magnificent Hidalgo Collection was dispersed in the early 1980s and the house consequently demolished in the late 1980s.
The Don Baldomero Roxas residence, Malate District.
The Don Jose Araneta y Zaragoza and Dona Mercedes Lopez residence, Calle Cortabitarte, Malate District.
The Don Andres Soriano y Roxas and Dona Carmen de Montemar residence, Calle General Solano, San Miguel District. It was designed by the talented and eccentric artist, Emilio Alvero. It is currently the Padilla residence.
The Rafael Fernandez residence, Calle Arlegui, San Miguel District.
In the PreWar [ 1930s ]:
The Don Jacobo Zobel y Roxas and Dona Angela Olgado residence, Dewey Boulevard.
The property had been owned by the Dona Vicenta Reyes viuda de Juan Roxas family since the late 1800s. It was sold by the unfortunate Don Francisco L. Roxas family through their representative Don Gregorio Araneta y Soriano [ married to their niece Dona Carmen Zaragoza y Roxas, daughter of Dona Rosa Roxas de Zaragoza, a first cousin of Don Francisco ] to their grandnephew Don Jacobo Zobel y Roxas. Don Francisco L. Roxas y Reyes was a second cousin of Dona Trinidad Ayala de Zobel, Don Jacobo’s paternal grandmother.
The house was in the Spanish style, detailed with bricks and white plaster.
Senior ladies remember the house to have been among Manila’s most beautiful because of the elegant tastes of Dona Angela Olgado de Zobel.
The house became the British Embassy for some years.
The Don Alfonso Zobel y Roxas and Dona Carmen Pfitz y Herrero residence, Dewey Boulevard. It was a masterpiece of the Paris-trained architect Andres Luna San Pedro, the only son of nationalist painter Juan Luna y Novicio and his heiress wife Paz Pardo de Tavera y Gorricho.
The house was in the style of the French Mediterranean villas dotting the Riviera. It also evoked the Beaux Arts mansions of fin-de-siecle Paris.
The Don Enrique Zobel de Ayala and Dona Fermina Montojo y Torrontegui residence, Dewey Boulevard.
“El Nido” The Perkins residence, Dewey Boulevard.
The Bachrach residence, Santa Mesa.
The Don Juan Arellano residence, San Juan.
The Barcelona – de Santos residence, San Juan. The PreWar Italianate villa and its garden was a masterpiece of the early 20th century Filipino artist Emilio Alvero. It was built for the Barcelona, an affluent and prominent Nueva Ecija “hacendero” family. According to the Barcelonas, Emilio Alvero was an eccentric, whimsical, and temperamental artist who was most productive at night. He painstakingly designed every architectural element in the house. He even personally mixed and made the green ”terrazzo” flooring of the ground floor. The residence is well-maintained in its original state by the family.
The Don Manuel Elizalde residence, Pasay.
The Perez Rubio residence, Vito Cruz. It was a beautiful French-style house.
The entire Perez Rubio family — with the exception of young Miguel Perez Rubio who was not in the house at that time — and their household staff were murdered by the Japanese soldiers in February 1945.
The Don Tomas Mapua residence, Taft Avenue, Pasay. It was a masterpiece in the Art Deco style by the Cornell University-trained architect Don Tomas Mapua. He was the first registered Filipino architect. The residence is well-maintained by the family.
The Dona Teresa Tuason residence [ the Tuason-Pr*eto-C*ro-Ag*stines ], San Miguel District.
It is one of Manila’s most elegant houses, owing to the exquisite tastes of Ros*rito Pr*eto C*ro and her husband Man*el Ag*stines. It is very well-maintained by the family. The lovely portrait of the original chatelaine, Dona Teresa Tuason, painted by the Filipino Old Master Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, is still installed in the living room.
According to the legendary arts and antiques collector Marie-Theresa “Bebe” Lammoglia-Virata: “At the time we were collecting, during that time when even the ugly was beautiful, They were only collecting the beautiful.” The collection is also known as the “Black Hole” to the big, new collectors because once a magnificent item enters its confines, it is never seen again, except by the family and its closest circles.
“Victoneta” The 1933 Don Salvador Araneta y Zaragoza and Dona Victoria Lopez y Ledesma residence, San Juan / Mandaluyong. It was a splendid Hispano-Moresque / Mediterranean style residence that sprawled on 17,000 square meters [ 1.7 hectares ]. It was in the style of the grand residences designed by Addison Mizner in Palm Beach, Florida. Three prominent architects were employed in succession to complete the villa: Juan Arellano, Lerma, and Andres Luna San Pedro.
It was destroyed by a bomb planted in the Chapel by the Japanese soldiers and accidentally detonated by a Filipino refugee during the final days of The War.
The Dona Narcisa Buencamino de Leon residence, New Manila.
The Don Severo Tuason residence, Santa Mesa.
The Don Leopoldo Tuason residence, Santa Mesa.
The Don Antonio Tuason residence, Santa Mesa.
“Ang Gubat” The Don Benito Legarda residence, Sampaloc. The legendary estate of the Legarda family.
The Don Francisco Lopez and Dona Angela Fajardo residence, Calle Sobriedad, Sampaloc.
The house was called “Why Worry?” and it took its inspiration from the Hollywood films of the era. Once inside, it is very easy to imagine the likes of Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, and Bette Davies.
PostWar:
The Don Isauro Gabaldon residence, Pina Avenue, Santa Mesa.
The Don Carlos Palanca residence, Taft Avenue, Pasay.
The Don Eugenio Lopez Sr. residence, Pasay.
The Don Vicente Madrigal residence, Balete Drive, New Manila.
After Don Vicente’s passing, his many, many properties were raffled off to his seven children: Macaria “Nena” [ Mrs. Juan L. de Leon ], Maria Paz “Pacita” [ Mrs. Gustav Warns; later Mrs. Gonzalo W. Gonzalez ], Josefina “Pinang” [ Mrs. _____ Bayot ], Antonio “Tony” [ married to Amanda Abad Santos ], Jose “Belek” [ married to Victoria Abad Santos ], Consuelo “Chito” [ Mrs. "Chichos" Vazquez; later Mrs. Manuel Collantes ], and Maria Luisa “Ising” [ Mrs. Daniel Vazquez ]. It was Maria Luisa “Ising” who got the New Manila residence in the “bunutan” raffle. However, Consuelo “Chito” complained aloud and so the residence was raffled off again. The second time, it was Antonio “Tony” who got it; there were no objections from Chito. Antonio went into a joint venture with the Rufinos and developed the large property as a compound of luxury townhouses. It is known that the Madrigal-Paterno grandchildren rue the loss of their grandfather’s home: they spent many happy years there and the Eduardo Cojuangco Sr. and the Jose Yulo grandchildren often came over to play by merely climbing ladders over their common fences. According to the Vazquez-Madrigal children, had their mother Maria Luisa “Ising” Madrigal-Vazquez inherited their grandfather’s house, she would have maintained it as it was during his lifetime.
“Bahay na Puti” The Don J. Amado Araneta and Dona Ester Araneta residence, Cubao.
“White House” / “Victoneta II” The PostWar Don Salvador Araneta y Zaragoza and Dona Victoria Ledesma y Lopez residence, AIA Compound, Malabon.
The Don Luis Ma. Araneta y Zaragoza residence, McKinley Road, Forbes Park.
There were also interesting houses in Manila…
PreWar:
The “Pagoda” renovation of the 1800s Ocampo residence, Quiapo
The Ocampo family of Quiapo were directly descended from the prominent and affluent Paterno and Zamora families, also of the same district [ Calle San Sebastian / Calle R. Hidalgo ], as well as the famous and wealthy de los Reyes family originally of Cavite [ Don Crisanto de los Reyes ].
“Villa Caridad,” New Manila. The PreWar, eclectic, Mediterranean-style residence was built by the Lerma Family. It was later acquired by the Gallego Family with whom it was more closely associated.
*unfinished*
