Instead of feeling flattered, Roces quickly sought to correct that impression. Friends said they were reminded of the house in “Ang Larawan,” the film adaptation of author Nick Joaquin’s “Portrait of the Artist as A Filipino,” a musical entry in last year’s Metro Manila Film Fest. Roces posted photos of the party on social media which drew a deluge of comments. The younger kids played on the shiny floor-while the older ones performed on the violin or electric guitar. Last December, the Acosta-Pastor clan gathered in an annual reunion that now includes members of the family’s seventh generation. She dismisses this nostalgia as “a fantasy,” one that continues to be perpetuated. “There is no old aristocracy in the Philippines, as it reaches back only 150 years.” “When you see a house like this, everyone’s big trip is to create an aristocracy,” said art curator and book author Marian Pastor Roces, who is also the eldest grandchild. From time to time, the younger Pastor invites passersby to come up, and regales them with stories of his childhood with his eight brothers and only sister, and his late parents, Dr. Seen from the road, this bahay-na-bato cuts a commanding image, a portion of its stone facade covered in fiercely green ivy. The lawyer and realtor manages the family home with the help of his 85-year-old brother, Luis, who also lives in the compound. Its wooden floorboards creak under the weight of cousins who gather periodically in the sala to hear the clan patriarch, 89-year-old Tunying Pastor, play classical and Broadway tunes on the grand piano. Today, the house pulsates with the hustle and bustle of modern life. Since 1883, it has been a mute witness to the passage of time. The Acosta ancestral house in Batangas City is one of only three structures built in the 19th century that is still standing in this city. Examples of extant structures following the Flowers in Trellis are found in Quiapo and Bataan–such as the Teotico House along Barbosa St., and the three-story Casa Bisantina at Las Casa Filipinas de Acuzar, a theme-park and beach resort in Bataan.The main entrance of the Acosta-Pastor house The style peaked in the 1890s but as an architectural fad it did not last long, however, and only a few of them remain today. Vegetables such as pumpkins may sometimes be seen hanging in some of them. The brackets supporting the second floor overhang were usually highly ornamented as well. A common theme was the abaniko, a type of hand-held fan which in itself mimics the shape of the anahaw leaf. Every space is ornamented, even the roof–such as in the case of the Teotico House which sported exquisite flower-themed acroterias (acroterion).ĭecorative grills are are noteworthy in Flowers in Trellis styled houses. Common motifs and design ideas include flowers, acanthus leaves, fruits, vegetables, and sometimes animals. As what the name suggests, Zialcita likened this style to flowers hanging from a garden trellis or net. "Of all the basic styles, the Flowers in Trellis was the most elaborate, and if the Philippines had its own version of the Rococo, this would be it. SHOW CAPTION HIDE CAPTION The Flowers in Trellis Style, Prevalence: Manila, 1890s With evolving tastes and changing trends, this style was prevalent until the 1880s when it was superseded in popularity by the Platter Style." They tend to have no ventanillas at all, and for the few that have, they’re usually very small when contrasted against the entire length of the windows. Board and batten, or board-and-batten siding, describes a type of exterior siding or interior paneling that has alternating wide boards and narrow wooden strips, called “battens.”Īesthetically speaking, the exterior of a Board and Batten Styled house is simple and almost devoid of decorative elements. The Board and Batten Style is characterized by the manner on how the wall of the second-story was constructed. It is assumed that when this “All-Weather House” was born, it took the form of the Board and Batten. As what was suggested earlier, structures in Manila during the early years of the Spanish regime resembled peninsular and Latin-American constructions however as earthquakes, fires, and wars repeatedly ravaged the city over the years, the type of architecture resilient to all of these eventually returned back the quintessential Bahay Kubo, thus, in the later half of the Spanish regime, the Bahay na Bato, the “All-Weather House” was born. Arguably speaking, this was how the Bahay na Bato type might have started in Manila. "The Board and Batten is the oldest Bahay na Bato style. SHOW CAPTION HIDE CAPTION The Board and Batten Style, Prevalence: Manila, Mid 19th Century to 1880s
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