LXXIX. Pre-War Art Deco for a Large Family: The 1931 Chong House in Malolos, Bulacan

 We’ve already visited several ancestral houses in Malolos, all of which date to the late 19^th century to the first couple of decades of the 20^th, and thus straddling the transition in styles from Spanish Colonial and Filipino Victorian to Art Nouveau.  Today we visit a relatively young structure, from 1931, that shows how the wealthy citizens of this town latched on to the newly-emergent Art Deco style.

The Chong family owned what must have been the largest noodle factory in this part of Bulacan in the Pre-War years.  This was situated on a four-hectare-plus lot in Barangay Canalate, just a kilometer or so from the Malolos municipio.  The approach to the factory, however was prettified by the family’s home, which occupied the eastern edge of the property.  Its original fence and gate still secure it today.

Once the gates are pushed open, one gets a full view of the large structure, with a driveway bordering a lush lawn paving the path from gate to main entrance.

The semicircular colonnaded entrance porch is topped by its balcony twin.

We enter these elaborately carved double doors, here seen from the inside,

and find ourselves in a spacious, still well-furnished, foyer,

generously paved with Machuca tiles.

On the left-hand wall are the obligatory console table topped by a Venetian-style mirror,

across which are a small marble-topped table, supporting a very casually-dressed image of the Holy Infant Jesus, and flanked by a pair of side chairs.

Directly opposite the entrance are these double doors that echo the main doors’ carvings, a classy way to hide the contents of the storeroom under the grand staircase.

And in its own alcove in the center of this foyer is this tall wooden-case clock,

originally acquired from the famous Manila department store “La Estrella del Norte,” as inscribed on its face.

Predictably, this foyer leads to the living room, accessed via this arched doorway on the right.

The sala still has its original wooden floor planks, laid out in various diagonal herringbone patterns. 

It is so spacious that it accommodates several seating areas, including a pair of Spanish colonial-style long-armed lounging chairs, one of them a rocker,

two 1920’s late Art Nouveau armchairs and a matching settee around a round table,

even a Spanish colonial-style escritorio in one corner,

and the main seating area, a 1930’s Art Deco ambassador set,

in apparently original condition, with gilded accents,

built-in side tables for the sofa,

and a rather subdued center table.

Close by is one of another pair of Art Deco ambassador armchairs, with slightly different details.

The different seating areas are lit from above by a variety of period fixtures, not all usually associated with the Art Deco style.

The expansive ceiling is held up by a pair of faux-marbled columns,

with the ceiling itself suffering from rainwater seepage from the balcony above.

The sala’s far wall is bow-shaped, as also seen in the earlier shots of the exterior of the side of the house facing the street.

Another doorway at the far side takes us out of the sala, and behind the grand staircase we saw earlier in the entrance foyer. 

One is a bit surprised to see a large desk here, apparently the only place where the master of the house could balance his noodle factor’s books of accounts.

He is lit overhead by a period-appropriate Art Deco fixture.

Opposite the desk is a bay window with built-in seating.

Is this where the noodle factor’s employees would wait when called by the boss?

Also hidden away in this area are a lansena (sideboard) and an old TV,

and an Art Deco platera (plate display cabinet). 

Which probably means that the actual plates aren’t far away.  In fact, the next room beyond is the nearly-as-spacious-as-the-sala dining hall (“room” does not seem appropriate).  This can also be entered from the doorway on the left-hand-side of the entrance foyer, directly opposite the entrance to the sala.  Here is what one sees upon entry – a sea of Machuca tiles.

The large dining table is made up of two individual tables, joined end-to-end.  Not quite a magic table (i.e., composed of numerous small tables), it seats ten comfortably and even more if desired.

The simple inlaid details on the apron of the table, typically found on numerous other pieces of the early 20^th century, vaguely echo the patterns on the Machuca tiles.

And the solihiya-seated dining chairs are just as simple, or even more so.

The entire ensemble appears to be on standby for the next family meal – whenever it’s going to be served.

There is even a six-seater round “spillover” table at the far end, for uninvited adults or bratty children,

and more side chairs in yet another contemporary style, should seating at the table prove inadequate.

Another lansena

and another platera

stand against the walls of this dining room, as does a Venetian mirror with etched Chinese characters.

This door

leads from the dining room to the kitchen

and from there to the servants’ quarters behind the door at the end of this passageway. 

The servants’ quarters are actually accessible as well from the front of the house, to the left of the main entrance. 

Back in the entrance hall, we proceed with the second part of the tour, as we’re only half-way so far.  We ascend the grand staircase, with wooden treads and a wrought-iron balustrade

and after making a complete 180 degree turn, take the last few risers up

to emerge in a fairly spacious hallway. 

The green walls of this second floor hall are decorated with family portraits

a Venetian mirror

and the family’s collection of tabletop Santos.

One end of the hallway

brings us to the colonnaded balcony

overlooking the driveway up front,

spacious enough to accommodate another seating area.

whose arms extend to both sides of the façade.

One of these arms terminates in a doorway to one bedroom, directly above the servants’ quarters on the ground floor.

Back in the green hallway, we do an inventory of the doors that connect from it and the bedrooms to which they lead.  At the head of the staircase is this narrow one

with its opposite number at the other side of the balustrade.

While both doors were locked, it was easy to deduce that they led to same-sized bedrooms, directly above the living room on the ground floor, and each opening onto the bow-shaped roof deck (also above the living room), seen here from the yard outside.

The occupants of these two bedrooms were assigned use of this facility, accessible via this door, unfortunately also locked when I visited.

The fourth doorway from this hallway opened into another, smaller, hallway

which led to four more bedrooms.  The first one, on the left, had windows that opened up onto one of the balcony’s arms outside, and was generously furnished, with a late 19^th century poster bed,

a chest of drawers

a monogrammed single-door oval-mirrored aparador,

and a period light fixture above.

Directly across the hallway from this bedroom was a second bedroom, of presumably similar size, behind these locked doors,

which are visible as well from way across the first bedroom.

A third bedroom was entered via this narrow doorway,

also had a four-poster bed that seemed to predate the house,

was illuminated by an Art Deco “schoolhouse-type” milk-glass light fixture,

had persianas (louvered wooden panels) in addition to the glass-paned windows,

but instead of aparadors, benefited from newfangled built-in cabinets.

Directly opposite this bedroom was the fourth bedroom, beside the first, and with a door that led to the large balcony outside. 

However, this bedroom had its own smaller balcony, accessible via these glazed double doors.

This bedroom’s theme is decidedly 1930’s Art Deco Egyptian, including the bed,

and the dressing table,

but nothing beats the aparador – which has taken the theme quite literally.

In contrast, this armchair

and the light fixture

are perhaps in what could be called “Standard Art Deco.”

These last bedrooms have to share one toilet-bath amongst themselves, situated between the third and fourth bedrooms

But it’s pretty spacious, if that’s any consolation,

though it had obviously seen better (cleaner) days.

Back in the narrow hallway, we espy a ladder that leads up to the attic.

As I was not confident that the ladder could support the weight … of my camera equipment, I took this lady’s word for it that it was actually quite a spacious attic.

The tour of the interior having been completed, I made my way back to the kitchen, and from there, out the back door, shaded by this makeshift non-period-appropriate roofing.

From here, it was easy to walk around the house and appreciate the Art Deco-ness of the entire structure, including details such as window grills

and balcony balustrades.

From here, one could also view the rest of the more-than-four-hectare property, originally the family’s factory’s noodle sun-drying field, beyond the fence on the far end in this next photo

and contemplate what the best use of this large estate might be today. 

The least productive use, in my view, is as the venue for filming television horror dramas, something that this house apparently gets used a lot for already today.

The most productive adaptive re-use might be to convert the large four-hectare lot into a school campus.  This might be quite appropriate as Malolos has, over the past couple of decades, become known as an educational center for this part of Central Luzon.  (Despite the presence in town of numerous schools already, there looks to be opportunities for more, as all of them are typically oversubscribed.)  The house itself could be tastefully restored and adapted to become the school’s administration building, faculty dormitory, or some other specific-use structure on campus.

And then again, this house could once again be the home of a large, countryside-loving family in the 21^st century.  If the family was into having their own private sports facilities (Olympic-sized swimming pool, tennis court, badminton court, bowling alley, even a golf course?), or breeding horses, or raising cattle, there’s about forty thousand square meters out back that just might be suitable for any of these purposes.

Does your family fit this description?

Originally published on 14 May 2009.  All text and photos copyright ©2009 by Leo D Cloma. The moral right of Leo D Cloma to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.