trip to the north
For our team building this weekend, we decided to visit a museum of heritage houses located up north. The Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar <http://www.lascasasfilipinas.com> is a collection of centuries old houses (from different parts of the country) that were disassembled and reconstructed using the same original materials (some are a combination of original and modern materials). These heritage houses are rebuilt inside a compound near the Luzon Sea, so there’s a beach nearby.
Here’s a historical description of one of the reconstructed houses:
CASA HIDALGO
Name of the House
:
Casa Hidalgo or Enriquez Mansion
Owner of the House
:
Rafael Enriquez
Original Location
:
Hidalgo St., Quiapo, Manila
Year of Construction
:
1867
Year of Reconstruction
:
2006
Built in 1867, the mansion, filled with ionic capitals from the colonnaded sidewalk, to the columns found in the balcony front, was designed by the first Filipino to practice architecture in the Philippines during the Spanish era, Felix Roxas y Arroyo, for the family of Rafael Enriquez
Originally located at the corner of Calle San Sebastian (now R. Hidalgo St.) and Callejon de Carcer in Quiapo District, Manila, the house was considered the most elegant in the entire country during the Spanish regime, as narrated and described by American historian A.M. Norton sometime 1908 and 1909. The mansion was then used as the first campus of the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts with Enriquez as its first director from 1909 to 1926, before his death in 1927. It was also the first school of Architecture in the Philippines.
Young artists in the 1870’s used to train in the entrezuelo (mezzanine) of the house, notable among them were JUAN LUNA and FELIX HIDALGO. Later, outstanding artists who were products of the school included FERNANDO AMORSOLO, GUILLERMO TOLENTINO , EMILIO ALVERO, CARLOS FRANCISCO and TOMAS MAPUA.
In 1927, after the operations of the school was transferred to Padre Faura St. , the house underwent various repairs and was used for other purposes such as bowling alley, boys and girls dormitory, sex live shows and a lot more. As a result of the poor maintenance of the structure, the house slowly went into decay.
The trip will be 5 hours drive from our place and we leave early morning of Sunday, to arrive in time for the check in. Then we’re going to do the heritage walking tour for an hour, to visit all 27 houses and relive each one’s history. We can also relive some of our ancestors’ traditional games and past times after the tour.
There’s also a Sea Turtles Conservatory nearby, around 45 minute drive from the resort. Maybe we’ll check this out before we check in, or after our check out.
By Monday morning, we’ll see if we can still insert Zip lining or visit another historical place during the Japanese occupation. If the weather permits, that is. There have been a lot of thunderstorms lately (everyday, actually), that we can’t risk driving uphill on a slippery zigzag road.
During the ride back in the afternoon, we’ll probably catch sleep, because we still have work right after the trip. We need to be back in the office by 7 in the evening in time for the first shift of work.
I’m excited because I’ve been hearing a lot of good reviews about the place but at the same time, I think I’ll be very very tired this weekend. Especially since I’ll be bringing along baby Marc on this trip. At 18 months, he’s sooooooo energetic I can’t even get enough sleep. By enough I meant at least 4 hours.
it’s me,
figliarina lacrimosa