This is the second Part of this four part series on the Evolution of the Filipino ancestral house in the Philippines. In this second part we will see the development of the Spanish era Ancestral house as it develops from its most basic form as seen in the first part of this series to a more sophisticated and design oriented house. The Filipino ancestral house of the mid Spanish Era are characterized by a combination of the previous Bahay Kubo/Early Bahay na Bato style with the newer Architecture coming from other parts of Europe and the United States. The Houses would become more detailed and complicated which spurred a Golden age in Filipino Ancestral house design and architecture.
The Mid Spanish Period (1750-1870)
The Mid Spanish Period style of Ancestral house is Characterized by three important parts. The first part would be the addition of several new ornamental features. These features were already partly present in the local Churches, though some were brought from abroad. These features would include but are not limited to Columns, Pilasters and Cupolas. Columns,Corbels,Pilasters and Cornices were already present in most churches in the Philippines by 1800 as seen in both San Pedro Macati Church in Manila and the Senor Santo Nino Basilica in Cebu. The Column was an important part of Architecture were not only used as part of the foundation and structure of the Church but also as decoration inside the Church as like the pillars inside the Manila Cathedral. The pilaster was a small protrusion connected to or separate from a column. Pilasters were mostly as decoration as they had almost no real structural importance. Cupolas were used to let heat vent out of the church. In Ancestral houses the plain façade of wood and Coral/Brick/Adobe was modified with these decorative elements.
Casa Gorordo Built in the middle of the Mid Spanish Era ancestral house would feature some of the features listed before. The second important part of the Mid Spanish Philippine ancestral house would be the new ventilation designs made of both wood and brick/coral/adobe, it was very apparent that ventilation became a very important part of Ancestral houses to let heat out and the cold in. Ventilation Designs would depend on where and who was making them, some prefer mass production as it was cheaper but some particularly the rich chose elegant and sophisticated designs. Side note a large influence in the design and build of these houses also came from Indian.
The third important part or parts of the Mid Spanish ancestral house would be the addition of several new parts of the house, the first part would be the Azotea. The Azotea was an open air balcony that was used as a lounging area for the family and guests, aside from serving as a lounging area the Azotea would also have a Water cistern and Bathroom. The second part added to the house during this time was the Caida. The Caida was where the family would meet and greet guests coming to the house, also the Caida was one of the first parts of the house a person would enter, and in the Caida stairs would go up to the second floor if the stairs was not outside the house. The third part that was added was the Escalera. The Escalera were literally the Stairs that the guest would have to walk on before entering the house. The shape of the Escalera varied from house to house but the most common was the simple straight balustraded Escalera. As we can see the Ancestral house during this time began to become a fashion statement, it was not necessarily bad as that is the only reason we have such beautiful houses today. The Mid Spanish Era Ancestral house was the main transition from the Early to Late Bahay na Bato. Among the many other advancements that were made during this era would be built upon in the Late spanish and American period of Ancestral houses.
The ornamentation of Ancestral houses was more apparent in Luzon as seen in the Mercado Ancestral house of Bustos,Bulacan. It was built in the late 1850s and is one of the most Beautiful and stylized ancestral houses in the Country. Inside this house the Modernist artist Conrado Mercado was born. Mindanao during this time was sparse in Ancestral houses and was still hostile to Spanish Forces, though some ancestral houses from this period existed (notably in Jolo) most of these houses were lost to time and to war. Many people consider this the foundation of the Golden age of Bahay na Bato as the true golden would come next during the next chapter of this story. The Late Spanish Era in Bahay na Bato design.
