Skip to main content

Follow The Yellow Brick Road, Part 1

My college friends and I took the road again. A month of planning via Facebook, we met Saturday early morning at McDonald's, Quezon Avenue and headed north as soon as the cast of loquacious forty-somethings was complete. It was a good one and a half hour drive via NLEX, the North Luzon Expressway and SCTEX, the Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway to our first stop, Concepcion, Tarlac. Having majored in Interior Design, we're all interested in visiting ancestral houses. I Googled on how to go about visiting the old Aquino home but eventually a dear lady friend of mine arranged a 10am tour for us. We were met by the caretaker of the house, Aling Neneng Calunsay. She had been with the family since she was thirteen years old and she had lots of fond memories to share about Ninoy and Cory Aquino.
The Aquino ancestral house is quite simple compared to the old mansions in Pampanga and Bacolod. The exteriors are very much like the houses in the old district of Malate, Manila. Art Deco style and Spanish Colonial furniture are used inside and one could imagine the genteel days and political history it witnessed.
We will learn more about Ninoy Aquino and his life in our next stop, the Aquino Center.


The Historical Marker

Beautiful window details.

The living room.

The office.

Dining for 18.

The kitchen.

Stair details.

The master's bedroom.

The bedroom vanity sink.

The children's bedroom.

With the caretaker of the house, Aling Neneng Calunsay.

Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownTuesday, April 8, 2014 at 8:07:00 AM GMT+8

    So fortunate to be included in your group to see this Simple yet Magnificent House! The Art Deco Chandeliers hanging in the dining room are back in style! I see them every where at the Las Vegas Design Center in bright Reds, Blues and Yellows but the one i saw at the house was a most delicate pink ( hint of lavender) so beautiful! I didn't get to notice the bedroom vanity sink when i was there- its raised 3" from the counter just like the contemporary ones now! This house is so Classic Art Deco!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The House Of Dr. Luis Santos

Our tour of Malolos continues, from the Cojuangco ancestral house  http://myrefrigeratordoor.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-cojuangco-ancestral-house.html , our gracious host  Melecio Cojuangco  brought us to the house of Dr. Luis Santos. Mel arranged the visit with one of the heirs of Dr. Santos,  George Imperial . From the outside, one would already be in awe of the sheer size of the house. The house was built in 1933, according to the marker by the gate. Upon entering, you will marvel at the grand staircase, the expansive receiving room and the foyer filled with hard bound medical books and mementos of Dr. Santos' career as a well loved doctor in this town. The second floor was something else, as our group slowly ascended the magnificent staircase, my heart literally skipped a beat at the sight of the ceiling mural and Art Deco details. We found out later that the mural was painted by the great  Fernando Amorsolo  himself. There was a private chapel in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes
5 comments
Read more

The Cojuangco Ancestral House

Our next journey takes us to a historic town in Bulacan, thirty minutes north of Manila. My road trip buddies, my college friends who all share with me the same fascination for heritage houses were privileged by an invitation from Melecio Cojuangco to visit their ancestral house in Malolos. Mel, his cousin in law Marissa Lopa, Rima Datuin and Evelyn Bautista  and I discovered each other's funny bone   because of our love for the ice cream served in a huge bowl at Peninsula Manila's lobby. One evening, to justify our appetite, we pretended it was my birthday and we had the string quartet play happy birthday for me, from then on, we became good friends. Mel's grandfather,  Jose Cojuangco  was born at the Malolos house, very near the Barasoain Church. Jose's mother traded rice from Nueva Ecija, sacks transported by boat via the river at the back of the kamalig to Binondo, Manila. Like most turn of the century houses, the Cojuangco house uses piedra china stones f
2 comments
Read more

Her Name Means Peace

I started blogging five years ago after reading the book  Life On The Refrigerator Door  by  Alice Kuipers.  So touched was I from the story, I named my blog  My Refrigerator Door . Ms. Kuipers wonderfully weaved a story about a daughter and her mother who battled with breast cancer in a series of notes posted on the refrigerator door. Last Sunday, at the funeral of Tita Passy,  Paz Cojuangco-Teopaco,  I was reminded of that beautiful book. She too fought a long battle with the disease, but in her suffering, she has brought her family back together. I met the Teopacos through my good friend  Kris Aquino . In one of Kris's anniversary specials on TV, I was introduced by Kris' mother,  President Cory  to her youngest sister, Passy. After that, I got to bond with Kris's cousins, Tita Passy's daughters,  Marla  and  Rina  in a summer trip to Mindoro. Sharing the same love for sentimental music, and deep affection for Kris's son  Joshua , Rina and I became the b
Post a Comment
Read more