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WHEN THE VILLAVICENCIO ANCESTRAL HOUSE, built in the 1920s on the
street behind the Casa Tribunal (now the Municipal Building) became too
cramped, being hemmed by other bahay na bato,
the parents of Don Eulalio Villavicencio decided to build a larger house that
had no adjoining neighbors. The new
house stood on the second of five contiguous lots and was three lots away from
its nearest neighbor. Bordered by three
streets, its main entrance was on G. Marella Street. Del Castillo Street that ended at the granite
stairway leading to Caysasay Church, was on the west, while a narrow street
bordered the back of the property.
The house went to Don Eulalio
upon the death of his parents. Although
he already owned the adjoining house one lot away which was connected to his
parent’s abode by a covered bridge, Don Eulalio moved over to the older but
larger dwelling to accommodate his large family.
Don Eulalio and his wife Gliceria
were one of the richest couples in Taal.
They owned large tracts of agricultural land and steamers that plied the
Manila-Batangas-Tayabas coast. Both of
them were staunch nationalists. In January
1892, upon the visit of Juan and Antonio Luna to raise funds for the Propaganda Movement, they donated a sum of
Php18,000 – equivalent to Php6.5 million today.
In gratitude Juan Luna gifted the couple with their portraits, probably
the best he ever painted.
In 1986, Eulalio was arrested for
alleged complicity in the Katipunan. Imprisoned for two years in Fort Santiago, he died
shortly after his release due to the privations suffered during his incarceration.
Because of the death of his
husband at the hands of the Spaniards, Doña Gliceria became an even more rabid
nationalist to the extent of holding clandestine meetings in the house with
revolutionary leaders of Batangas. She
also organized the Batalyon Maluya to fight the Spaniards. With her considerable resources, Doña
Gliceria provided food and arms to the revolutionaries, sometimes even
more personally driving the
carabao-drawn cariton with rifles
hidden under cornstalks supposedly for fodder.
In 1919, Gov.-Gen. Francis B.
Harrison slept in the house as a guest
of Senator Vicente Ilustre, son-in-law of Doña Gliceria, to inaugurate the
electric plant in Taal. It was a
momentous occasion, as Taal was the first town to have electricity in Batangas
province. Incidentally, Vicente Ilustre was Rizal’s model for Isagani in El
Filibusterismo.
A typical three-bayed bahay na bato painted in the
original mint green and yellow ochre, its ground floor walls of adobe blocks
support an upper storey of carved acanthus consoles of molave seemingly support
the pasamano or window sills. This
architectural detail, commonly found in Pangasinan, also appears in contemporary
houses of Taal and Balayan, probably as a result of coastal trade. Ventanilla or “little windows” beneath the
window sill are faced with the elaborate lace-like wrought-iron grillwork
typical of the 1850s. The ogee arches
carved on the doors were inspired those on the facade of Bauan Church, where it
first appeared in Batangas. The
neo-Gothic details of that church, built in the early 1800s, antedated the
1870s Sto. Domingo Church in Intramuros.
The two double doors opening to
the zaguan are unusual for private
houses. The door on the left bay led to
the storage area of the carved and gilded andas
or palanquin of the Nuestra Señora del Rosario.
On her feast day in October, the statue was assembled on the andas which was then decorated with
realistic-looking feligrana or
filigree flowers made of beaten coin silver and illuminated by a score of
candles in handblown and etched virina
or hurricane lamp shades. The zaguan door was then opened so that the
faithful could venerate the ivory image in its glittering golden splendor. The doors of the central bay led to a short
flight of stairs to the meseta or
landing with its door opening to the entresuelo
or mezzanine chamber that had sliding capiz
windows opening to the zaguan and a window on the street side with a
wrought-iron rejas na buntis, so-called because the lower part of the scroll
that formed grille protruded out like the belly of a pregnant woman. From the meseta,
a flight of balayong stairs led to
the wide caida with its panoramic view
of the Balayan Bay.
The hardwood floors of the upper
floor, the elaborately carved and gilded foliated transoms over the double doors carved with ogee panels in the formal
rooms and the walls and ceilings stretched with handpainted canvas are typical of
1850s Taal houses.
In 1919, the house was renovated
for the overnight visit of Gov.-Gen. Francis B. Harrison. In anticipation of the visit, black-and-white
Machuca tiles were laid in the zaguan. The
original painted canvas ceilings of the formal rooms upstairs, which had
probably deteriorated by then, were removed and replaced with stamped tin
imported from the U.S. The walls of the
caida and the sala were re-stretched with new canvas and painted with the then
currently fashionable Art Nouveau motifs by Emilio Alvero. In the master’s bedroom, an adjoining porch
overlooking the central garden with its ornamental pond was built and floored
with Machuca tiles. The lot along Del
Castillo Street was fenced with wrought-iron grilles
and landscaped. A fountain featuring a giant
clam shell spouting water graced the
center of the garden. The exceptionally
large shell was a gift of the Sultan of Sulu, when Vicente Ilustre made a visit
to Jolo as one of the five Filipino members of the Philippine Commission of 1916 –
1919 representing Mindanao and Sulu.
The house, like most dwellings in
Taal, survived the Japanese Occupation relatively unscathed, except for the
loss of the floorboards of the large comedor
or the dining room that ran the whole width of the house. The Villavicencio comedor, the largest in Taal in the 1850a, shows the scale of
entertaining the family indulge in.
Since the family all live in Manila after World War II, the house was not
lived for almost half a century.
Upon partition of the communal
property in 1990, the house went to the heirs of Don Sixto Villavicencio, Don
Eulalio’s son. Edgardo Villavicencio, Don
Sixto’s only son, inherited the house and began restoring it. When the monument of Doña Gliceria Marella de
Villavicencio was erected by the NHI, the garden was raised to street level and
the fountain was buried under the landfill.
The covered bridge, which had become dangerously decrepit due to
non-use, was demolished.
The house is now owned by
Edgardo’s son, Ernesto, who completely restored the house with the help of his
wife, Maris Rosario Benedicto, who has a Master of Architecture degree from
Georgetown University. MARTIN I. TINIO JR.
