Ancestral houses fascinate me. There's something captivating about these stately homes that exhorts this weekend warrior to scour them whenever there's a chance to do so. Well, it must be the impressive architecture, the magnificent craftsmanship, the excellent quality of materials, and more importantly, the fascinating history and interesting tales that these mute witnesses to the passage of time tell today’s generation.
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Casa Gorordo Museum
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A glimpse at the awe-inspiring stairways, incredibly massive doors, intricately designed grilled and sliding capiz windows, spacious living rooms and bedrooms, period furniture and fixtures, ornate wood carvings known as callados, relaxing azoteas, and sprawling courtyards with well-manicured gardens gives you an idea of how the affluent lived during the Spanish and American colonial eras.
These abodes of the elite are scattered in various parts of the archipelago. Several towns and cities have a good number of these ancestral houses that have survived the vagaries of time and tide—with Vigan (Ilocos Sur), Malolos (Bulacan), Pila (Laguna), Taal (Batangas), Iloilo (notably Molo and Jaro), Silay (Negros Occidental), Carcar (Cebu), and Cabadbaran (Agusan del Norte) among the most popular ones.
Usually made of stone and hardwood like narra, molave, yakal and the like, these dwellings are architectural masterpieces of the past that will leave the culture vulture in you breathless with admiration—that’s why many of them have been recognized as national historical landmarks or cultural treasures of the Philippines. Vigan and Silay have also been hailed as museum cities for having their fair share of these remarkable houses.
Known as the oldest
city in the country, Cebu once had a good number of stately mansions during
the Spanish and American times. Unfortunately, most of them have been torn,
razed to the ground, and demolished, except for a few. In what was once the site
of a parian second to that of Manila,
there remains in the city some reminders of its glorious past—old houses, churches, buildings, among others.
Said to have been
founded in the early 1600s, Cebu’s parian was a small settlement of Chinese
traders who took part in the lucrative galleon trade and eventually settled in
that part of the city. A parian is a district in some cities and towns where
the Chinese were required to live by the Spanish colonial authorities.
By
the late 1800s to the early 1900s, the Chinese community in Cebu flourished,
evolving into a hub of commerce and trade. It also became a residential enclave
of the city's wealthiest families of mestizos, or those who have mixed
ancestry—native, Chinese and Spanish.
Exploring that part of the city, I finally set foot on a sought-after destination in Cebu that I’ve been wanting to visit for the longest time—Casa Gorordo. Now a museum, the ancestral house, which is found along the street named after philanthropist Eduardo Aboitiz (formerly known as Lopez-Jaena Street), was once the abode of the illustrious Gorordo family who occupied the house in 1863, a few years after Cebu re-opened itself to world trade. Owned and managed by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI), the museum is open to the public Tuesdays to Sundays from 9 AM to 5 PM.
Originally owned by Alejandro Reynes y Rosales, Casa Gorordo is said to have been built in the 1850s. Juan Isidro Gorordo, a Spanish merchant, bought the house from its former occupants and made it his family’s residence for many years. Four generations of the Gorordo clan lived there, including Cebu’s first Filipino bishop, Juan Bautista Gorordo. In 1979, RAFI, which acquired the house from the Gorordos, had it renovated and refurbished before it was opened to the public as a museum in 1983.
What’s so special about Casa Gorordo? For one, it’s considered as the quintessential wood-and-stone house that is the typical residence of Filipino aristocrats during the Spanish and American colonial periods. The mansion, which survived revolutions and wars, has retained much of its original balay nga tisa (house with tiled roof) structure, making it a distinctive feature of Cebu’s cultural heritage.
The house is a stunning
architectural marvel that showcases its former occupants’ lifestyle as well as
Cebuano society and culture back then. No wonder the National Historical Institute
(now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines) designated it as a
National Historical Landmark in 1991. If you’re into old houses and stuff, then
it’s one house you ought to visit whenever you’re in town.
To gain access into Casa
Gorordo, you have to pay Php120 as entrance fee, inclusive of a guided tour, a token
(key chain) and a booklet containing information about the museum. Certainly a
drop in the bucket if you take into consideration the plethora of historical
and cultural knowledge and insights you’ll gain from the tour. Incidentally,
cameras are allowed inside the museum but you will be advised to turn off the
flash as you go about taking photos.
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Hallway leading the exhibit area at the zaguan
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Made of Mactan coral stones, the spacious first floor, known as the silong or zaguan, used to be a storage area for agricultural produce, farming implements and tools, the tartanilla or horse-drawn carriage, among others. Mind you, wooden pegs were used to build the house instead of nails! Today, this part of the house has been subdivided into various museum spaces, including a reception area, a visitors’ waiting room, a gallery showcasing interactive exhibits, contemporary art and cultural relics, and a mini-theater.
After
being ushered into the gallery where visitors are usually given a brief history
of Cebu through a 3D map and a short film showing, I joined a squad of foreign
and local tourists as we went upstairs, stopping briefly at the descanso (stair landing that serves as holding/screening
area for visitors near the main stairway) for some briefing by our tour guide.
The grand staircase leading
to the upper floor looks splendid—you’d never thought it was built over a
hundred years ago! Made of hardwood (I’m not sure what kind of wood it was),
the steps were built following the ritual that calls for alternate counting to
three, that is, “oro, plata, mata” (gold,
silver, death) for each cycle of three steps. Counting starts at the lowest landing
of the stairs and stops at the topmost step, which should never end with “mata,” as it apparently signifies bad
luck.
Reaching
the second floor, I explored every nook and cranny of the continuous hallway
divided by partitions that serve specific purposes. The varied details of this
floor’s architecture and aesthetics are reflections of traditions and
conventions prevailing during that era, particularly those concerning privacy,
social status, and cultural practices.
There’s
the formal sala or living room where family members usually receive and
entertain theirs guests. It’s also there that business transactions often took
place. Adorning the formal sala are rattan sets, Vienna chairs, a Venetian
mirror, and framed pictures/ paintings of family members, landscapes, flowers,
and what have you.
Aside from the formal one, there’s also a private sala, where household members often relax with close friends. From what I've gathered, the Gorordos loved music, hence, it's not surprising to see a number of musical instruments in the house. Vintage stuff—an old piano, a harp, a gramophone and a card table—indicate that that part of the house was also the venue for music, games and entertainment.
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Callados are markers that indicated levels of intimacy and privacy
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Like
other homes constructed that time, Casa Gorordo has a caida (that’s “fallen’ in Spanish), a hallway that which stretches
from the sala all the way to the dining area. It’s where the ladies let fall
their long skirts after holding on to them while ascending the stairway.
Adorning
the hallway are intricately carved wooden callados—the
beautiful latticework that allowed the air to circulate between rooms. Other
than this, they also served as markers that indicated levels of intimacy and
privacy. Visitors passing under a callado
literally steps into a more private part of the house.
I
went inside all the bedrooms in the house. There’s a room for the couple, for
the spinster and for the guest/s, I supposed. All the bedrooms there have
four-poster beds with curtained canopies, typical in that era. Each room has
its own aparador (clothes closet), a tokador (dresser with mirror), an almario (pillow rack), among others.
It
is in the comedor (dining hall) where
families in the olden days displayed their plenitude, pedigree, and power as
this is where many special occasions happen. Formal dinners are deemed as
opportunities to showcase social, political and economic stature. That’s why
this part of the house is well-lit and heavily embellished to convey to the
visitors something about the owner’s affluence and influence.
At
the center of the dining hall is an eight-seater dining table for formal
dining, replete with nice-looking ceramics, glassware, and silverware. There’s
also a small round table in one corner, which, I guess, is intended for
informal ones. The cabinets and sideboards are adorned with fine porcelain that
looked Chinese and European in origin. A chandelier illuminates the dining
area.
Adjacent to the comedor is the cocina (kitchen), complete with an alacena (cupboard), a banggera (
dish dryer), water filter jugs with taps, and a rectangular
kitchen table with a kudkuran
(coconut scraper).
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The suitor's corner
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Other
interesting parts of Casa Gorordo are the suitor's corner where young lasses
can receive their suitors and guests; the library, with its collection of books, antiques and memorabilia; and the sala
de oracion (prayer room) where family members would gather to pray and
where the bishop used to hold masses.
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Memories of yesteryears at the library
|
Of
course, there’s the baño (bathroom)
and comon (toilet), which are both
found inside the house, considered to be a luxury only a few families enjoyed
way back then. Until the modern shower became a common fixture of many homes in
the later part of the twentieth century, water was brought upstairs by servants
and stored in big ceramic jars.
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The spacious azotea
|
After
scouring the house, I ended up at the azotea,
a wide open-air terrace that housed some aljibe
(cisterns) used for gathering rainwater. In the olden days, household members
would spend some time alone or in the company of family and friends at this
private sanctuary.
 |
Eats at the museum cafe
|
From
the azotea, I crossed what seemed
like a bridge that connects the museum to an adjoining two-story structure that
houses the souvenir shop on the upper floor and a coffee shop on the lower
floor. As it was way past lunch time, I lingered for a while to take some rest
and grab a bite. That signaled the end of my quick trip down memory lane in a
house where the past is never forgotten, but preserved for the next generation
to appreciate.
Truly, Casa Gorordo is an iconic treasure trove of memorable moments in the lives of Cebuanos during the colonial eras. It can definitely teach a thing or two to visitors much more about the city’s history than merely reading a book on the topic. All told, discovering a gem like this ancestral house-turned-museum in the downtown area definitely made my recent, spur-of-the-moment sojourn in Cebu an extremely captivating one!
Ancestral houses fascinate me. There's something captivating about these stately homes that exhorts this weekend warrior to scour them whenever there's a chance to do so. Well, it must be the impressive architecture, the magnificent craftsmanship, the excellent quality of materials, and more importantly, the fascinating history and interesting tales that these mute witnesses to the passage of time tell today’s generation.
A glimpse at the awe-inspiring stairways, incredibly massive doors, intricately designed grilled and sliding capiz windows, spacious living rooms and bedrooms, period furniture and fixtures, ornate wood carvings known as callados, relaxing azoteas, and sprawling courtyards with well-manicured gardens gives you an idea of how the affluent lived during the Spanish and American colonial eras.
These abodes of the elite are scattered in various parts of the archipelago. Several towns and cities have a good number of these ancestral houses that have survived the vagaries of time and tide—with Vigan (Ilocos Sur), Malolos (Bulacan), Pila (Laguna), Taal (Batangas), Iloilo (notably Molo and Jaro), Silay (Negros Occidental), Carcar (Cebu), and Cabadbaran (Agusan del Norte) among the most popular ones. 
Usually made of stone and hardwood like narra, molave, yakal and the like, these dwellings are architectural masterpieces of the past that will leave the culture vulture in you breathless with admiration—that’s why many of them have been recognized as national historical landmarks or cultural treasures of the Philippines. Vigan and Silay have also been hailed as museum cities for having their fair share of these remarkable houses. 
Exploring that part of the city, I finally set foot on a sought-after destination in Cebu that I’ve been wanting to visit for the longest time—Casa Gorordo. Now a museum, the ancestral house, which is found along the street named after philanthropist Eduardo Aboitiz (formerly known as Lopez-Jaena Street), was once the abode of the illustrious Gorordo family who occupied the house in 1863, a few years after Cebu re-opened itself to world trade. Owned and managed by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI), the museum is open to the public Tuesdays to Sundays from 9 AM to 5 PM.
Originally owned by Alejandro Reynes y Rosales, Casa Gorordo is said to have been built in the 1850s. Juan Isidro Gorordo, a Spanish merchant, bought the house from its former occupants and made it his family’s residence for many years. Four generations of the Gorordo clan lived there, including Cebu’s first Filipino bishop, Juan Bautista Gorordo. In 1979, RAFI, which acquired the house from the Gorordos, had it renovated and refurbished before it was opened to the public as a museum in 1983. 
After
being ushered into the gallery where visitors are usually given a brief history
of Cebu through a 3D map and a short film showing, I joined a squad of foreign
and local tourists as we went upstairs, stopping briefly at the descanso (stair landing that serves as holding/screening
area for visitors near the main stairway) for some briefing by our tour guide.
Reaching
the second floor, I explored every nook and cranny of the continuous hallway
divided by partitions that serve specific purposes. The varied details of this
floor’s architecture and aesthetics are reflections of traditions and
conventions prevailing during that era, particularly those concerning privacy,
social status, and cultural practices.
Aside from the formal one, there’s also a private sala, where household members often relax with close friends. From what I've gathered, the Gorordos loved music, hence, it's not surprising to see a number of musical instruments in the house. Vintage stuff—an old piano, a harp, a gramophone and a card table—indicate that that part of the house was also the venue for music, games and entertainment. 
I
went inside all the bedrooms in the house. There’s a room for the couple, for
the spinster and for the guest/s, I supposed. All the bedrooms there have
four-poster beds with curtained canopies, typical in that era. Each room has
its own aparador (clothes closet), a tokador (dresser with mirror), an almario (pillow rack), among others.
It
is in the comedor (dining hall) where
families in the olden days displayed their plenitude, pedigree, and power as
this is where many special occasions happen. Formal dinners are deemed as
opportunities to showcase social, political and economic stature. That’s why
this part of the house is well-lit and heavily embellished to convey to the
visitors something about the owner’s affluence and influence. 
At
the center of the dining hall is an eight-seater dining table for formal
dining, replete with nice-looking ceramics, glassware, and silverware. There’s
also a small round table in one corner, which, I guess, is intended for
informal ones. The cabinets and sideboards are adorned with fine porcelain that
looked Chinese and European in origin. A chandelier illuminates the dining
area. 
Other
interesting parts of Casa Gorordo are the suitor's corner where young lasses
can receive their suitors and guests; the library, with its collection of books, antiques and memorabilia; and the sala
de oracion (prayer room) where family members would gather to pray and
where the bishop used to hold masses.
After
scouring the house, I ended up at the azotea,
a wide open-air terrace that housed some aljibe
(cisterns) used for gathering rainwater. In the olden days, household members
would spend some time alone or in the company of family and friends at this
private sanctuary.
From
the azotea, I crossed what seemed
like a bridge that connects the museum to an adjoining two-story structure that
houses the souvenir shop on the upper floor and a coffee shop on the lower
floor. As it was way past lunch time, I lingered for a while to take some rest
and grab a bite. That signaled the end of my quick trip down memory lane in a
house where the past is never forgotten, but preserved for the next generation
to appreciate. 
Truly, Casa Gorordo is an iconic treasure trove of memorable moments in the lives of Cebuanos during the colonial eras. It can definitely teach a thing or two to visitors much more about the city’s history than merely reading a book on the topic. All told, discovering a gem like this ancestral house-turned-museum in the downtown area definitely made my recent, spur-of-the-moment sojourn in Cebu an extremely captivating one!
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