II. Old Houses in San Miguel, Bulacan

Soon after returning to the Philippines a few years ago, I was able to join an organized old house tour in San Miguel, Bulacan. San Miguel is an interesting old town. It’s not particularly progressive or wealthy today, but a hundred years ago it was filthy rich, because all the landowners used it as their residential base for managing their haciendas in Bulacan, Pampanga, and Nueva Ecija – San Miguel is at the junction of these three provinces. The hot springs in Sibul, within San Miguel town limits, provided an added attraction – Sibul was the de factor summer capital for Manila residents before Baguio became popular. And it helped that the railway ran from Manila straight into the middle of the town.

After World War II, many things changed, just as elsewhere in the country. The big haciendas were broken up by land reform. The railway ceased to be operational. Other vacation destinations became more accessible – Baguio, Tagaytay, even just La Mesa Dam. Today, very few people have heard of Sibul Springs, much less actually been there. And so San Miguel today is a quiet old town that just happens to have plenty of large beautiful old houses, many of them sadly in disrepair. A window into the town’s glorious and wealthy past indeed, but not significantly more than that.

The old-house tour that I joined had for most of its participants architects from Manila, and it was conducted by a kindly old gentleman from one of the town’s more prominent families. I realized early on, though, that his main function was to get us access to the old houses, and nothing much more. Basically we were left to fend for ourselves and wander through the rooms and take photos and ask each other questions, which we’d just try to guess the answers to. 

But at least we were able to enter these beautiful old houses. One of them was the Maximo Viola House. This was a simple straightforward structure, with a large yard and garden as its best feature. I don’t recall exactly, but I think it may have dated from early in the 20^th century (rather than the late 19^th century) because of its architectural style. Unfortunately I didn’t take pictures when I was there, but there might have been a year of construction on the pediment. I’ll check if I ever manage to return.

There was also the Hidalgo house, and I remember that this one did have a year on the pediment: 1930. It’s very similar in size and style to the Maximo Viola house. I couldn’t take pictures in this one, as it was being used for a movie shoot when I was there. What was interesting was that it had recently been purchased by a local entrepreneur, and was then already being referred to as the “Glo-Herbal” house, after the entrepreneur’s venture. 

Thankfully, the new owner had thoroughly renovated the house. This made it suitable for movie shoots. Less impressively, the wide yard of the house had been converted into “resort facilities” – swimming pools, water slides, eating places, parking, etc. I guess that helps pay the restoration bills, but it was all rather in bad taste, in my view.

I also got to visit three other houses: the Sempio House, the Pablo Tecson House, and the Sevilla-De Leon-Joson House. These three houses are truly interesting, although for quite different reasons.

Originally published on 7 August 2006.  Copyright ©2006 by Leo D Cloma. The moral right of Leo D Cloma to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.