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.
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| 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.
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| The house interior as it was back then. It has obviously not been lived in for some time, but it's still beautiful. |
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| The house feels like a true work of art, where the designer gave creativity a free rein. |
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| 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. |
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| 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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Another house worth seeing is the Salao house in Dampalit, I just hope that the fishponds at the back of the house are still there....or perhaps even further out the fishponds are there.
ReplyDeleteZarina, I was able to take a picture of the Salao House - it's a beautiful house, but unfortunately it was flooded. Makes me feel bad that the heritage houses of Malabon are suffering such a fate.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment.
Thank you so much for the pictures you posted for this blog article. It's been so many years since I last saw the old house. I had forgotten about the intricate woodwork and painted panels of the house. I do remember the marble-topped table and the wide narra floor planks on the 2nd floor which used to always have an impeccable shine, from daily shining with bunot, coconut husk.
ReplyDeleteThe Rivera house was built for my great grandfather, Eduardo Rivera, who was also known as Cabesang Andoy. I believe the portrait against the wall on the 2nd floor stairway landing is that of his wife, my great grandmother, Procesa Andres-Rivera. Lolo Andoy was already a widower when he moved into the house which the family refers to as the "Tabing Ilog" house. He had 4 children, Rafaela (unmarried), Angel married Basilia Santiago of Conception, Marcosa Rivera-Litam, Juana Rivera-Espiritu.
The house was always cool even in the hottest of summers because of the thick adobe walls. The original flooring on the first floor was Spanish tiles. I think the original front doors were of heavy mahogany, and the stairway at the right side of the house was made of heavy stones cut into huge blocks laid atop each other. It may have led to the 'dirty' kitchen. We had access to the river bank further behind this stone stairway.
The driveway from the gate used to have a grove of guava trees on the right side. As kids coming for our piano lessons given by our aunt Leonor Espiritu, we Rivera cousins used to run from the gate thru the driveway, past the closed up garage, and headed directly for the front doors. We were scared of the 'duende', 'nuno sa punso' and 'maligno' which were supposed to be lurking among the darkness enveloping the guava trees. I never did see sunlight come through among those trees by the driveway.
For a long time, the house was known as being haunted. Neighbors who lived across the river reported seeing bright lights in the house like there was always a party going on. Rivera family funeral wakes were held in the house, which may explain the ghostly party lights seen from across the river, even when there was no ongoing wake. The last permanent resident of the house was uncle Danilo, youngest son of Angel+Basilia. He may have been the one your husband knew from the civic org in the 80s. He did have a patis-an for 'Manina Patis'. Tio Diloy was the only one who could stay in the house and wasn't afraid of the ghostly noises, while communing with his ancestors.
I am so glad to see the house is still intact, notwithstanding the remodeled 1st floor due to the flooding, and thanks to the conscientiousness of uncle Remigio (Ondio) Espiritu. The house brings back many memories of stories my Dad Oscar told me when they would hang out at their Lolo Andoy's house and of my own memories of my idyllic childhood in Sta. Cruz St., Hulong Duhat, just kitty corner from Lolo Andoy's house in 'Tabing Ilog'. My beloved Malabon is always in my heart.
Stella S. Rivera
Valley Village, CA
Stella - I enjoyed reading your comment about the house and your memories of it.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, reading your narrative brought life into the house -- that when I looked at the pictures again, I could imagine how it must have been like for you and the families who once lived in it. It's great that the family legacy is being maintained.
You're right, it was during the time of your Uncle Danny that my husband used to go to that house with the Malabon Jaycees.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Pwede po ba mag shoot sa place na to? Need po kasi namin e. Ang ganda ganda. :))
ReplyDeleteSalamat sa iyong comment.
DeleteOo nga, ang ganda nitong Rivera House. Nakakatuwa at kahit papano nai-preserve nila yung dating anyo ng loob ng bahay. Kaya lang hindi ko alam kung puede na basta pupunta para mag shoot.