Tastemaker Tania Fricke takes us to this eclectic and sentimental home in Makati

To do this, Fricke turned common spaces into venues for the things they enjoy as a family. “There’s a constant stream of activities like communal weekly asados, pizza-making, cocktail-mocktail-dance sessions, regular movie nights, puzzling, trainer workouts now done over Zoom and long, meandering convos over dinner,” one of the daughters chimes in. With this, the family requested to create different nooks for such activities, peppered strategically around the flat.

Entering the matriarch’s side, for instance, leads one to a cosy living area that showcases an array of old and new furniture and art, many of which came from the owners’ previous residences and trips abroad. “She wanted to have generous space for sitting and lounging,” says Fricke. Mix-and-match seats and sofas are complemented by dark wood tables and a shelf decked with memorabilia from different corners of the world. Towards the end of the room are a pair of old gallinera chairs and a wall with paintings by local artists beautifully lined up. “A trip to Morocco in particular, with sojourns through riads in Marrakech and Branson’s sprawling Atlas Mountains retreat, inspired much of the home. Other items include contributions from our previous homes and lives in New York, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Cebu and Argentina,” the owner reveals. In this space, the family enjoys gathering together on their free days.

A few steps from the living area is the matriarch’s bedroom, which is beautiful in a blue, white and grey palette. Like most family members, the matriarch loves reading books, so it’s imperative to dedicate one side of her bedroom to her prized tomes. “There’s unabashed nerdiness from the Lola [my mum] to the youngest [my children]. Two doctors, a DPhil-in-the-making, and just generally being voracious readers mean an immense amount of books even in this age of e-readers,” the younger daughter says.

Because of this, Fricke had to allot several spaces around the apartment for reading nooks and more bookshelves. A critical piece of art here is their family portrait, which, according to Fricke, had to be trimmed to fit the wall. The bedroom also has a spacious bathroom in white marble, decked with skincare products that they formulated as part of their business.

Beside the matriarch’s bedroom is the youngest daughter’s space, which is clad in more subdued shades of grey and taupe. On one side, a vibrant cyan accent wall displays books and souvenirs.

To the right side of the living room is a bar where they usually enjoy their usual gin and tonic or pop champagne. On this spot, it is impossible to notice the copper sink, which, according to Fricke, came into the house even before everything else was brought in. “My team and I were sourcing for another project when we saw this copper sink, and my instinct told me this was perfect for this house,” she said. So, right there and then, she called the owners, told them about her find and asked them to trust her on this.

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Around this time, she has not yet presented a single mood board to the client, but as Fricke puts it, there’s an instant mutual connection and understanding between them. “They get me, I get them,” she says. This unique rapport continued throughout the project, from start to finish. Long story short, Fricke convinced the owners about the sink and the next thing she knew, it had found its place right in one of the owners’ favourite and most-used parts of their abode. “Then, we built around the sink,” Fricke says, ensuring everything goes well–from the bar cabinets to the lighting and even accessories. The bar table is decked with colourful Machuca tiles, which amplify the Moroccan feel of the place.

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Connected to the bar is the dining area where an old 12-seater dining table from their old house takes centre stage. Around it are the matching chairs, revamped to make the backrests shorter and now proportionate to the new home’s ceiling height. A beautiful buntal lamp drops from the etched ceiling, illuminating the space when natural light from the floor-to-ceiling window fades in at night. To the end is an old grand piano that the family still uses. “They showed me all their stuff stored in a warehouse, and I was given free rein to bring some of the pieces here,” Fricke says. From where the piano is, a panoramic view of the Makati skyline beckons.

Besides its private entrance, the other unit is accessible from the matriarch’s side by passing through two kitchens separated by a narrow hallway. This hallway posed another major challenge for Fricke and her team, for it is technically a utility area where the service elevator and electrical boxes are. Not only did it break the continuity of the two units, but it was also not aesthetically pleasing. Fricke and her team’s never-say-no attitude convinced the building administration to allow them to revamp this area, making it coherent with the rest of the spaces. To do this, Fricke’s talented staff hand-painted the walls and added more lighting to brighten the space. “You may not recognise what it was before!” Fricke exclaims.

On the other unit are more specialised nooks for the family to enjoy. “They love puzzles, so we created a space for this,” Fricke says. By that, she meant repurposing an old table and adding shelves on the sides to make room for puzzles and board games. Then, a long shared workstation where they can all work, study or read a book comes into view. As if splitting the long table in half, a tall, old-fashioned lamp reminiscent of those you see on the streets of Nantucket illuminates the space. What makes this spot even more remarkable is a small library of old, hardbound books that the owners have passed on from generation to generation.

Health and wellness are also a priority of the family. Hence, the decorator dedicated a nook for fitness routines like yoga or Zumba. “I even suggested allotting a space here where their cats and dogs can also play,” she says. However, the pet corner did not push through.

The sunroom adjacent to the fitness area is also a favourite spot for them to hang out, especially on days they’d like to slow down. As if bringing the outdoors in, the sunroom features verdant indoor plants that beautifully contrast with the metals of the furniture and the patterns of the Machuca-tiled flooring.

Finally, another living room is in place, more casual and laid-back than the one on the other side. And because Fricke is fond of using local materials, she used solihiya screens to divide the space between the study and the living room. “I wanted to use some abaca and solihiya weave for this home to put in Filipino touches and to tie in part of the Asian elements with the Chinoiserie and the Moroccan touches,” says Fricke. The owners also opted not to use piped-in music so that they can each enjoy their preferred music individually, wherever they are in the home.

The owners were ultimately pleased with the home’s outcome. Fricke’s work created a sanctuary they can all enjoy individually or as a family. The key is in the halo-halo-ness of it all.

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