A visit to the 1900s: The old Tuason house on Arlegui Street
On our way to Divisoria, my friend Tracy, Mother of Cats, took me to see her grandfather’s house on Arlegui Street in Quiapo. The house, built at the turn of the 20th century, sits like a time machine (a very elegant TARDIS) on a crowded street. “Crowded” as in “the Coco Martin TV series Ang Probinsyano is filmed at the back of the compound,” so the scene is one of organized chaos. In the main house, though, it is still the early 1900s.
The entresuelo, a room under the stairs. Look up the old term “mestizo de entresuelo.” In colonial times the illegitimate children of the house were confined to such quarters.
The massive wooden staircase polished to a high gloss leads to
the living room with its antique furniture and Art Deco accents.
Despite the hubbub outside it was so quiet you could almost hear the murmuring of the ghosts who lived there, imagine the old piano playing while the guests exchanged news. I kept hoping some of them would turn up in these photos.
A courting chair?
Tracy remembers Sunday lunches in the 1970s, when her grandmother still lived there. In the kitchen:
From the balcony, a view of the 21st century.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
February 6th, 2020 at 16:31
I like the photos and the stories that go with them. I’d love to see a book collecting the images and histories of old homes in and around Manila. It’s a pity that so many beautiful and stories homes didn’t survive the war and the quest for redevelopment. Makes me nostalgic for a past I was never around for.
February 7th, 2020 at 08:48
I thought I’m the only one hoping a ghost will show up on the pictures.
February 7th, 2020 at 10:44
Check out Philippine Ancestral Houses by Fernando Zialcita and Martin Tinio.
February 18th, 2020 at 10:10
I also wanted the share a post that I saw on Facebook some months back where someone collected photos and brief histories on beautiful old homes in Ermita and Malate, including what has befallen them. (Sorry that it’s on Facebook.) https://www.facebook.com/1401141105/posts/10215358612824152/?d=n