Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar: A taste of Hispanic Era

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is composed of roughly 27 authentic houses and bahay na bato (stone houses) from the 19th century prominent families. Each harbors a different chronicle captivating love, lust and death during chaotic periods significant in Philippine history. 

Despite being a resident of Bataan, I must admit that it was my first time to visit Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. I tend to hear a lot about this place yet I’m not interested because I’m not a history enthusiast but given the chance to visit, I grabbed the opportunity since it was something new.

Just from the entrance, staffs in the service information booth will greet you with their aged and traditional wear that’ll truly make you feel you’re in a different era.

One can experience a day tour through membership or by paying the following rates depending on the package one wishes to avail.

Overnight stays are also offered.

At first I thought it’s going to be a boring experience. But at the moment we started the day tour, I was proven wrong.

The starting point of the Day Tour was at Casa Jaen I which was originally owned by the Esquivel family from Nueva Ecija.

Our tour guide for that day was Kathleen. She showed the original form of every heritage houses in its original location to assure that they do not change anything with its architectural features and retain its original form.

She explained that these heritage houses were meticulously transferred from their original locations in different parts of the Philippines and carefully restored by different artists.

We started the tour at around 1:30 pm. A group tour is composed of 4-7 persons. 

As Kathleen explained, “isa-isa pong binaklas yung parte ng bahay, sinakay sa isang malaking truck tapos binuo ulit dito kagaya nung dating itsura mala-jigsaw puzzle lang ang dating.”

We were asked to remove our slippers as we entered each house. According to her, “hindi naman po lingid sa kaalaman natin yung Filipino tradition na paghuhubad ng tsinelas kapag pumapasok sa bahay ng ibang tao and as a sign na rin po ng pagbibigay galang sa nagmamay-ari ng bahay.”

A typical house during that era had passageways for the “aliping saguiguilid” or servants who were not allowed to enter the main areas of their masters’ houses and could only walk along the sides of the house.

The old toilet bowl of the house was still the same, yet the tiles and divider was renovated since the old walls weren’t found in a good condition. It was just weird why there were two bowls aligned together so I asked the tour guide the reason behind that. She said that “noong time nila bonding moment kasi nila yung paggamit ng banyo and as a sign na rin siguro of moral support.”

She also showed some of the antique appliances and furniture used during the Spanish era such as vintage typewriter, milk jar, sewing machine, radio, piano, projector, coffee grinder and manual iron.

Hapag-kainan

Traditional milk jar

Projector

Radio

Hole like this on the 2^nd floor of the houses used to spot visitors is common for antique houses during Hispanic era. According to Kathleen, “yung butas na ito ay sakto dun sa kinatatayuan ng mga bisita na gustong pumasok sa loob o kumakatok at isa din sa kaugalian ng mga Español na kapag nasilip nila na hindi nila gusto yung kumakatok sa pinto ng bahay ay bubuhusan nila ng tubig yung butas at kung minsan pa ay diretsang iihian mula sa butas."

Family picture of the house's owner

It was noticeable how women back then are prohibited from smiling during picture taking since it was believed to be a sign of pornography. According to Kathleen, “ganoon ka-conservative ang mga Pilipino noon na ang pag-ngiti sa lirato ay isang manipestasyon ng paglalandi o flirting."

the evolution of Coca Cola added by the artist who rebuilt the house

Oven toaster

Indoor sport Sungka

CASA CAGAYAN I

There are houses along the shoreline of the property, originally from Cagayan province. During the early 1900’s, houses like this type were referred to as the Poor Man’s Houses.

 CASA CAGAYAN II

It was noticeable how traditional houses were highly elevated as a practice of preparation for natural calamities especially floods. The cellar of the house served as a ground for raising chickens and ducks. 

Walking on paved rows of centuries-old heritage house at Las Casas de Filipinas is truly an eerie feeling yet very informative and exciting. 

A tour of the heritage houses gives a glimpse of the way of life of the Filipinos during the Spanish era when the Philippines was under the Spanish rule.

CASA LUNA

This house was originally owned by a prominent Novicio family of Namacpacan, La Union and was built in 1850.

It was now named Luna, in honor of the famous Luna brothers, Antonio the general and Juan the painter whose mother, Laureana Novicio  was the native of the town.

The house became a headquarter of the United States Armed Forces in the Philippines Northern Luzon where they planned the operation for the capture of General Yamashita.

In 2007, the house was eventually abandoned, so they moved and restored it in Bagac, Bataan.

PASEO DE ESCOLTA

The structure is composed of replicas of the typical Escolta buildings in Manila. It was built based on old photographs found in magazine. And according to Kathleen, the rooms and interiors were designed by the wife of the owner, Mrs. Tess Acuzar, being an interior designer herself.

Casa Escolta has 17 rooms, all with individual toilets and baths, which serve as the hotel of the resort.

CASA CANDABA

The mansion was originally owned by the Reyes family, one of the most prominent families in Pampanga during the 1780’s and was used as the residence of the Spanish Gobernador Heneral when visiting Pampanga. 

CASA TONDO

CASA MEYCAUAYAN

Originally constructed 1913 in San Fernando Pampanga, the house was owned by Escota family. But later acquired by Rogelio Urrutia who came from a prominent family in Meycauayan, using the same materials and design, the house was reconstructed at Barrio Hulo, Meycauayan Bulacan.

The house was generally an example of a classic style “Bahay na Bato” constructed out of adobe stone on the ground floor and wood on the upper floor.

Continuous media aguas are found all throughout the top of the second floor sliding windows. There were also ventinillas secured with decorative wooden grills.

CASA JAEN II

CASA HIDALGO

Built in 1867, originally located at the corner of Calle San Sebastian (now R. Hidalgo Street) and Callejon de Carcer in Quiapo District.

The mansion was then used as the first campus of the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts.  

It was also the first school of Architecture in the Philippines. Notable artists used to train in the mezzanine of the house and among them were Juan Luna and Felix Hidalgo. When the UP School of Fine Arts transferred to Padre Faura in Manila and later to Diliman, Quezon City, the mansion was neglected.

Casa Hidalgo eventually later became a dormitory and even a shooting location for pornographic films. “at ang pinakamalala po ay naging abortion clinic pa ito back then.” added by Kathleen.

CASA BALIUAG I

Casa Baliuag once served as the municipal hall of Baliuag in the 1950’s.

ORIGINAL PAINTINGS FOUND AT THE ORIGINAL CASA BI ÑAN (ALBERTO HOUSE)

Casa Biñan is Jose Rizal’s ancestral house. The house was originally built by Gregorio Alonzo in the 16^th Century located in Binan Plaza, Laguna. Teodora Morales Alonzo Realonda y Quintos (the mother of Jose Rizal) inherited the house and expanded it in the 18^th century.

Over time, this house was converted to a movie theatre (Cinema Ligaya) but caught by fire later on. The house got abandoned so the current owner decided to donate what was left of this building to Mr. Jerry Acuzar of Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in order to preserve and use what remained of it.

Nevertheless, a model of this original home was constructed on the property at Las Casas Philippines de Acuzar with attention to detail and with intent to replicate this building as exactly as possible to the original building. 

MARANAO HOUSES

Maranao house are the only houses in Las Casas Filipinas which came from Mindanao. These are houses of “datus” in which according to Kathleen “yung loob ng Maranao houses ay puno ng mga kurtina which acts as divider kasi diba yung mga datu is allowed makapag-asawa ng higit sa isa kaya yung bawat asawa ng mga datu ay pinaghihiwalay lang ng mga kurtina.”

CASA QUIAPO (ESUELA DE BELLAS ARTES FILIPINAS)

On the 2^nd floor were few work of arts in which the focal design is about life and death.

HOTEL DE ORIENTE

Hotel de Oriente was the 1^st hotel in Asia originally founded in Binondo.

Other heritage houses are intended for overnight stays while some are show houses for day tours.

Staying in one of the heritage houses which are all original antique structures can range from around Php 16,000 per day to as high as 150,000 per day.

Guests will not run out of things to do at Las Casas. They can take a walking tour of the entire resort, shop for souvenirs at Plaza Escolta or take a dip in the resort’s batis-inspired swimming pool.

 PHOTOBOOTH SECTION BESIDE SALON DE JUEGA

Another option, calesa tours of the 400-hectare resort.

Too tired to have a walk? Not a problem. Here’s the ikot jeep free of charge perfect for sight seeing.

After a tiring and history-filled day tour, unwind with the calm and peaceful seashore.

Overall, the experience is just worthwhile. As I said I am not a history enthusiast, yet I really appreciated the way of living before. It was nice to saw and experience visiting well-known houses like these which contribute a significant ingredient of what we called now Philippine history.