Bahay Kubo

My favorite. I grew up in a house like this but of hardwood panels, tipay windows and bigger. The nipa roof, as opposed to G.I. sheets, makes for a cooler interior, especially with the cool polished wooden flooring.

Post American period old house

It's old, maybe a renovated 50s or 60s. But its original style is definitely post American period. No one builds a wooden house with hardwood anymore because it's illegal to chop down hardwood for housing and furniture. Unless you have a license and permit, in that case the wood would be very expensive, even for a furniture. New houses are now concrete to withstand the typhoons.

*American occupation in the Philippines = 1900s and after the American-Japanese war (1940s).

Renovated old Spanish period house

Old houses like this were built from hardwood usually not using nails but in the old style (kind of like ancient Japanese carpentry). So as they age, the house becomes askewed. So the first thing that's done to repair them is to build a better foundation on the lower ground floor. Here's an example of a renovated old Spanish house. The lower floor has been converted to concrete then covered with Mactan tiles (a type of unpolished marble bricks). The upper floor was maintained, and the roof now has modern roofing. In my opinion the attempt to retain the wooden design in the upper floor is to be commended, but after all that work, they could at least have reburnished the wood to give it the old polished look.

And another

Old houses here used to belong to the old rich, then abandoned because either the owners have migrated to the cities or abroad, or the owners are dead. Only the caretakers (usually distant relatives) are looking after the houses, and the upper floor where the antique belongings are kept boarded up. This old, abandoned house has obviously been left by the owners, and someone else living under the house, either rented out or maintained by the caretaker. (Didn't stop to ask.)

Salas (living/receiving room), bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms of old Spanish houses here are all located in the second floor. First floors were used as rice granaries or as stockroom for farm equipment. When you enter the main door of an old house, you immediately see a staircase that leads to the sala upstairs.

Old abandoned house

With typhoon Ondoy ravishing Luzon, we've another coming. There's a Signal #4 typhoon (or Cat5) supposedly near our area (Samar, next island) and many friends and family have texted me already how we're doing. I'm outside in the garden, having coffee and enjoying the mild weather.

An old house turned commercial

This is in downtown Tacloban. They painted that house red recently. On the second floor is a salon and spa, they say it's good. I am a regular in another so I can't say if that's true.

Another unrestored old mansion

Spanish time mansion, old hardwood, windows are made with capiz shells, and I'm sure, a house with lots of history. In Thailand, houses like these are restored and shown to tourists, for a fee. Here, they're either restored into hotels or business centers, or torn down and the hardwood sold to be made into expensive furniture since cutting down old trees are prohibited.

VISCA's Alumni House

Old house

Old houses here are still mostly owned by their original family owners. Most of them are run-down. Nobody seems interested in renovating them, or preserving them. I can only think of two that have been preserved, one to a hotel, and another to a museum/office. The others are falling apart, like the picture above.

Copra street

Copra (dried coconut meat) is one of our products here for coconut oil processing. There is this one street lined with old copra bodegas where if you look inside one of them, the copras reach the roof and trucks drive inside to dump the copras. It's not a nice street to pass by, the air is stuffy and dusty. Working conditions inside are not that safe either.

And yes, new look.. (I mean my blog.)

Hotel Alejandro

Hotel Alejandro is an old house that was renovated and made into a hotel. It has that 'history' feel to it.. the lobby is decorated with old b/w pictures of the Japanese-American war. Check out the delicious bibingka snacks sold outside every 2 in the afternoon.

Olot Series: Couple's cottages

The building beyond was Marcos' 'clinic, where he was set-up in a hospital bed with his dialysis machine, the room with the beach view. Actually, the only room with glassed sliding doors in the whole compound. The rest of the buildings have capiz sliding windows and doors.



That building was Imelda's 14-bedroom guesthouse. Her stuff are still in the upstair rooms, locked away by her loyal staff per Imelda's instructions.

#29 Another old house

Another 'old' house belonging to the old families in Tacloban. This one is where my favorite secondhand bookshop /coffeeshop (Libro) is located. You can read a good book AND drink coffee at the same time. Old Filipino-Spanish homes in the Philippines used the first floor as the 'grannary' where they stock-piled rice grains. I remember such homes and the smell of mustiness and earth, the coolness and the feeling of being home. Kind of like being in a cellar with windows. There's a trend now, of repainting these old houses with vivid colors. Remember the Pepsi ad?
Hehe

#26 Pepsi ad

One of the old Filipino-Chinese homes in Tacloban, this one was a block away from my grade and high school and was where we used to buy our school supplies when we ran out. It had been looking very dilapidated until they painted it with this Pepsi ad, not much now. But imagine living inside a Pepsi ad..

#22 Palo library

This is an old house in Palo Leyte owned by the old dons of Leyte, Don Pedrosa, a founder of the Prudential Bank (now merged with the Bank of the Philippine Islands). He's also the grandfather of that CNN anchorwoman Veronica Pedrosa whose family was exiled during the Marcos time. While I was growing up, the first floor used to be the Public Library, with lots of donated books from the US. The building is designed after the Spanish old homes in the Philippines. If you're wondering why there is a crowd outside, it's because the people are waiting for a parade to pass by.

(taken: Palo Leyte)

#16 Rosvenil Pensionne

If you find yourself in Tacloban and P1,500+ rooms are expensive for you, try Rosvenil Pensionne. It's a clean place, almost as good as the hotels, warm water, safe place and friendly staff. The rooms are P1,000 below. Limited rooms though. The more modern building is where the best rooms are, the old building to the right of the picture is the residential house of the owners. Pensionne is located at Burgos St. Everyone knows where it is.

(taken: Tacloban, City)