Malabon starts off the year in style

Finally.  Some of Malabon's beautiful heritage houses debut in a coffee table book that chronicles the unique architectural history of the Philippines --"Philippine Style - Design & Architecture"  by Luca Tettoni and Elizabeth V. Reyes.

Image from Arkitekturang Filipino Facebook page

A chapter in the book, "Malabon Art Nouveau Gems," features the beautiful, well-preserved interiors of the Martinez, Borja-Roxas and Chikiamco ancestral houses.  The ancestral house of the Santos-Andres clan is also included.

To welcome the coming-out of our hometown's heritage gems in a prestigious publication, the Parokyanong Malabon in cooperation with Anvil Publishing held a soft launch and book signing on January 11, 2013 at Pescadores Restaurant.  Entitled "Ma'arteng Malabon: A tribute to Malabon ancestral houses" the event was graced by Mayor Len Len Oreta, author Ms. Elizabeth Reyes, heritage house-owners and prominent residents of the city.

Parokyanong Malabon is composed of Atty. Ramon Lucas, Archt. Richard Bautista, Terry de Jesus and Leona Nepomuceno.  Their group has been spearheading culture & heritage promotion activities in Malabon for the past many years.

Being included in this book on Philippine Style is a huge step in putting Malabon on the heritage map of the Philippines where it rightfully belongs.  And last Friday's event launching the book in Malabon is an auspicious beginning for the year for our hometown's heritage promotion efforts. "Metro Manila's hidden gem" is hidden no more.

Malabon has started off the year in style and we can look forward to more exciting things to come!

 

The Raymundo House

Proudly dating back to Spanish times, the RAYMUNDO HOUSE on C. Arellano Street is known to be the oldest house in Malabon.

It was built in 1861, the same year that our National Hero Jose Rizal was born, and also the year that the San Bartolome Church was completed.  Passers-by almost always take a second look at its original stone gateway that's  reminiscent of the portals of Intramuros. 

For one flickering second standing across the street you could almost imagine that you were in Intramuros with its adobe walls and massive wooden gates.  But then you see how the street has been so elevated that the portal has "sunk" to half its height -- and you get pulled back to the reality that you're in flood-prone Malabon...

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Etched on the gateway arch along with the year it was built is a double-headed Hapsburg eagle, an image that was used to represent the European Hapsburg dynasty and appeared on the coat of arms of the kings of Spain. 1/   The house was built by Fernando Raymundo and its present owner is a fifth-generation descendant of his. 

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This photo of the RAYMUNDO HOUSE (c. possibly 1970s) was sent by a friend and added to this posting on Dec. 20, 2010.  He recalls having visited the house when he was small.  He remembers the gate knocker made of solid brass ("tanso") - a lion's head - that was so heavy, when you pulled it so it would hit the metal plate base, the sound could easily be heard from the house.  There was a long piece of string to be pulled in so that the visitor could get in to the front yard.  The knocker was installed around 4 feet from the original street level.  NOTE:  This photo originally labelled as circa late 1950s based on friend's recollection but now adjusted to possibly 1970s due to the replaced roofing.

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Framed color image of the house in the late 1970s.

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The RAYMUNDO HOUSE during the Concepcion fiesta.  The morning pagoda started from their place as the Malabon River is right behind it.  Only around seven steps remain of the original stairs leading to the azotea (balcony).  The ground floor of the house is no longer usable - the family lives only on the second floor.

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Olden-style interior with a few touches of modernity.  I love the beautiful wide-planked hardwood floors.

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The Spanish-era beginnings of the RAYMUNDO HOUSE is evident in the tree posts that are still standing inside it.

I went to Barangay Concepcion that fiesta day intending to see only the Pagodas and the Caracol, but I had an unexpected bonus.  I got to see a house that had always caught my attention with its unique grand entrance, the likes of which I used to see only within Intramuros.

The RAYMUNDO HOUSE has withstood time and tide to give us -and future generations- a precious glimpse of the past in our hometown.  I felt happy, proud and grateful - all in one day!


My thanks to Mr. Hilarion Corvera, Jr. and his wife Susan, and to Jamie Corvera.



1/   Website of Universidad Francisco Marroquin.


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The Wenceslao Pascual House

Tucked behind an auto supply shop in Barangay Hulo is a charming house - the WENCESLAO PASCUAL HOUSE.  With the trees and plants framing it, you could almost imagine yourself in a kind of English country manor setting.

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Because of the flooding problem, this house has met the same fate as that of many other heritage houses in Malabon.  The present owners have had to raise the level of their grounds up to nearly the level of the windows.  But, it's still so picture-pretty.

The house was built in 1930 by Mr. and Mrs. Silvestre Pascual.  It was designed by the Dean of Filipino architects, Juan F. Nakpil.   The couple's son Dr. Wenceslao Pascual, who became Governor of Rizal Province from 1951 to 1955, was born and raised in this house. The present owner Esperanza is one of his daughters.

The WENCESLAO PASCUAL HOUSE c. 1930s when it was still at least five steps up from the yard.   The house has two unique features:  a curved roof,  and its lightning rods. (Photo from Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista)

  

The house c.1983.  The fishponds at the back of the house could be seen from the front. (Photo from Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista)

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Bangus decor apparently to show the original owner's main livelihood.

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The WENCESLAO PASCUAL HOUSE is on the main street and has a fishpond at the back, which is not a common setting compared with most other heritage houses in Malabon.

The back yard c.1970s (Photo from Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista)

The fishponds at the back today.  Because of the vanishing fishponds along Letre Road and Governor Pascual Avenue, every fishpond still in existence is a delightful and comforting discovery.

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WHY WE'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER GOVERNOR PASCUAL

One of the main roads leading out of Malabon was named after him - so undoubtedly we will always remember Governor Wenceslao Pascual.

Governor Pascual was a doctor of medicine by profession before he became governor of Rizal province.

Up to the early 50s, it used to be all fishponds in that area after Lambingan Bridge in Barangay Concepcion.  Even Sto. Rosario Village and the areas right across its entrance used to be fishponds.

In September 1954 Governor Pascual and the Provincial Board of Rizal decided to build a road through those fishponds going to Caloocan, and of course the affected fishpond owners were not happy about it. Work on the project stopped, and was eventually resumed by Governor Isidro Rodriguez. The road was finally completed in August 1970.   1/

The road was initially called the Concepcion-Potrero Road. 1/    Governor Isidro Rodriguez formally inaugurated the road as the Gov. Wenceslao Pascual Avenue on December 27, 1970.  For many years after it was built, locals used to refer to the road as "Bagong Daan" before they finally got accustomed to calling it by its official name.

Gov. and Mrs. Isidro Rodriguez inaugurated Gov. Pascual Avenue.  The house in the background with the intricate grills used to be the Bautista House.

The marker was located in front of Arellano University/Jose Rizal High School. (Inauguration photos from Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista)

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This photo taken Dec. 9, 2010 and added to blog Dec. 12, 2010.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of the marker at present.  Imagine how high Governor Pascual Avenue has been upgraded since 1970!

Thanks to Mrs. Esperanza Pascual-Bautista and Chiki Pascual Bautista for the info and the old photos.




1/     Information found on the marker.

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The Rivera House: another heritage gem

In Malabon, sometimes you find heritage gems when you least expect it.  That's what happened one bright Saturday afternoon when my husband and I discovered the  RIVERA HOUSE inside a compound in Hulong Duhat.

It was an impromptu mini-tour with Arch. Richard Bautista, one of the moving spirits behind heritage conservation efforts in Malabon.  After asking the owner's permission, he led us through this ordinary looking gate and a pathway lined by banana trees into the place where the RIVERA HOUSE stood.

According to Arch. Bautista, the house was built in 1918 within a villa setting which was not common in Malabon houses by the river.  Because of the perennial flooding in Malabon, the house was raised in 2007 by around two meters.

The original wooden second floor was raised section by section, using a jack.  The ground floor was reconstructed.

Seeing the house, my husband suddenly remembered having been there before in the late 70s/early 80s when he was with a civic organization then headed by a member of the Rivera clan.  He recalls there was even a "patisan" (a place for producing patis or fish sauce) in the premises during those days, and the ground floor had adobe walls.  He was delighted to see the house again, especially since much of the original house had remained intact.  The present owners really went to great lengths to preserve their family legacy.

The house interior as it was back then.  It has obviously not been lived in for some time, but it's still beautiful.

 

The house feels like a true work of art, where the designer gave creativity a free rein.

Narra and marble table on wide-plank flooring characteristic of the grand houses of those days.  The bookshelves are obviously not part of the original construction.

 

I wonder what the original flooring might have been downstairs...

Our thanks to Arch. Bautista for this and other fascinating discoveries about Malabon which I will share with you in a future posting!


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The Rojas-Borja House: going back in Time

Have you ever imagined what it might be like to go back in time to nearly nine decades ago?

Just recently I was thrilled to find myself inside one of the most beautiful and best-preserved heritage houses of Malabon, the ROJAS-BORJA HOUSE. Ascending the gleaming hardwood staircase, I instantly felt myself transported back in time to a gracious, bygone era. 

A welcoming sight

A quiet reading nook

Charming decorative touches all around

Pictures are not enough to describe how it felt to be there... as if Time had stood still in this house, and I was seeing everything exactly the way it was when the original owners, Manuel Borja and his wife Leona Rojas lived there in the 1920s.

Unmistakable elegance surpassing any modern architectural design you can think of

The feeling of connection to the past was so palpable that, despite the din of jeepneys, tricycles and humanity surrounding it, inside that house, I could be oblivious to them all.  It was like having Christopher Reeve's antique penny in his coat pocket in "Somewhere in Time" --  I was back in time and that was the reality of my moment. 

Too bad, as soon as I stepped out on the sidewalk after the antique wrought-iron gate closed behind me, it was back to the 2010 reality of Malabon - more specifically, an unsightly concrete barangay hall that had the temerity to stand alongside and even block our view of a heritage gem!

Of one thing I am certain: even though the face of Malabon may have changed in ways that we no longer recognize, as long as we have our rich heritage, there is still much of her soul left to cherish...



My profound thanks to Dr. Zenaida Borja Gonzales for graciously letting me experience going back in time in their beautiful ancestral house.


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