Home Tour: Two Family Residences That Exude Unique Homely Characteristics

The family’s seaside abode once belonged to the man of the house’s parents, and was, notably, the very first home in the neighbourhood. “My husband has had the Batangas house in his family since the ‘60s,” says the homeowner. “So we’ve been coming here ever since, but we just recently bought it, about six years ago.” Since acquiring the property, she and her brood have actively split their time between the beach and their Makati flat, spending all long weekends and holidays, and any spare time they have, in the former. “When we have guests, we always bring them to our beach house, because it’s easier to entertain them there since it has many bedrooms. Even the cousins—when they come from the States, they stay there. It’s still their family home. We leave it open for them.”

Structurally, the home has retained much of its original exterior, which takes inspiration from the original owners’ Filipino and Colombian heritage, mixing elements of stone, wood, and bamboo to create a porous and roomy hideout that makes the most of its natural surroundings. Old machuca tiles complete the homely, tropical vibe of the space. The inside, meanwhile, could not be more different from the family’s residence in the city.

Due to the difference in environment, the lady of the house’s penchant for colour had to take a backseat when it came to decorating the space. “In Makati, we really don’t go outside, but when we’re at the beach, we’re almost never inside the room. It’s the complete opposite. So, over there, I like to concentrate more on the outside while the inside, like the bedrooms and such, are just comfortable and functional,” she says. “I like having colour everywhere, but at the beach, it’s a little more difficult to go so colourful because everything gets faded, so it’s easier to use white. I just coloured it up with pillows and things.”

When it came to furniture, many of the wooden ancestral pieces were kept at the homeowner’s husband’s request. To switch things up, she had new upholstery and accessories installed here and there. “My husband’s very sentimental. Everything means something to him, that’s why it’s all original, just slightly updated once in a while,” she says. “I put yellow-striped upholstery on everything and moved some of the chairs around. I also put out the rugs, which made all the difference. They really softened everything up.”

Because the family always hosts guests in their beach home, it was likewise important for the owner to make every piece and accessory modular and accident-proof. “I only use acrylic here, because the minute you break glass in the pool, you have to drain it. So it’s a never-ending search for cute acrylic plates and such.”

She continues, “My husband’s family has their routines and traditions. If it’s 5pm, it’s pica-pica in the courtyard. Breakfast is always upstairs, but lunch and dinner are always downstairs, unless it’s typhoon season. After dinner, we always spend time out there, drinking and playing games. That’s why everything’s movable. If there are a lot of people, we can move some of the chairs around to make space. And everything has a slip cover, so you can sit anywhere wet and it’s fine.”

When asked about her favourite spots in the house, the lady of the house is quick to identify the day beds and the hammocks by the garden and the pool. “So many people have fallen asleep there, even when so much is going on, because it’s so comfy,” she says. But while she enjoys spending much of her time outdoors, she also values the time she’s able to spend with her family indoors, particularly in the now-air-conditioned sala. “The first thing we did when we bought the house was to install air-conditioning in that room. It makes the house much more ‘year-round’. Before, during rainy season, there really wasn’t much to do in the house because you would just stay in the bedroom,” she says. “By installing an air-conditioner in the sala, which is pretty large, we can spend the whole day there together still; watching movies, playing games, or reading.”

Overall, the owner relishes in the easy change of scenery and pace that this beach-side home affords her and her family—in the company of good friends no less. “It completely changes your headspace. You come here and it’s quiet. In Manila, I never really spend time outside, but here, I spend almost all my time outside,” she says. “Plus, we know everyone in the neighbourhood. We really do feel like a community.”

And just as she and her husband have kept the family traditions born in this home alive, she looks forward to continuing them in the years to come. “We only have one daughter, and when she was given the choice to buy a house in one village in the city or the beach house, she was 100% for the beach house. It’s her history, my husband’s history, and it also became our history. Even now that she’s moved out, it’s where we get together. And when she has her own family, this will be their home.”