Bacólod Heritage Watch

[Christendom]

Dizon Ramos Museum
City of Bacolod





























(photos courtesy from Dizon Ramos Meseum FB)

[Christendom]

A fairy tale of a Negros dream house



{GARBANZOS’ HOUSE AND RESORT Garbanzos’ house is located between the resort buildings (on the left) and the entrance to the resort (at the extreme right). Contributed photo}

BACOLOD CITY—He found a perfect place to build his dream house. But architect Albert Garbanzos had to hurdle several obstacles before he could buy the 24-hectare farmland nestled on a hill in San Carlos, Negros Occidental, and overlooking two majestic mountains—Marapara and Kanlaon.
He must get permission from a diwata (forest nymph) and tap a water diviner to find the underground spring that he now uses to fill two swimming pools in his resort called “La Vista Highlands” beside his dream house.
Garbanzos believes he was destined to own the property along Kilometer 67 in Barangay Prosperidad.

Elderly owners
At least 90 people had earlier offered to buy the estate from an elderly couple. But every time they were about to sell, they would dream that the buyers had bad intentions for the property or something bad would happen.
In December 2008, Garbanzos was driving his car to Bacolod City when he decided to stop along Kilometer 67. “I had to answer the call of nature, climbed a hill to smoke and, to my surprise, I saw a view that was to die for,” he said.

“It was a chilly December morning and the wind blew on my face. The clouds had gathered at the base of Mt. Marapara and it looked like Mt. Fuji, and when I turned around, I saw Mt. Kanlaon. It was such a breathtaking view!” he added.

Entire 24 hectares
Garbanzos found himself talking to himself as he explored the land. “I said this is my dream place. This is where I will build my rest home and I started rattling off how I would design it,” he said.

He then saw a woman, hunched over but tilling the land. She turned out to be the owner.

When he broached the idea of buying the property, the woman told him that she and her husband would only sell if he would take the entire 24 hectares.
Garbanzos told her that he would think about it and left.

Garbanzos is the son of the late businessman journalist Rodolfo Garbanzos of Bago City and Fidela Benitez, who instilled in him the love for making beautiful homes.

He studied fine arts and architecture at La Consolacion in Bacolod before transferring to Cebu Institute of Technology in Cebu City.

High end
He is also into interior design and garden landscaping.
Garbanzos, president and chief executive officer of ABG and Associates Construction and Development Corp. in Cebu, has found his niche in building high-end homes.

He could not stop thinking about the property in San Carlos, so he went back. The owners were about to sell the place to someone who wanted to start a piggery and farm there.

After Garbanzos told them that he planned to develop a resort and to plant trees, vegetables and flowers, the couple decided to sell the land to him.
“They told me they had a good feeling about me. It was as if the diwata had finally given them permission to sell, perhaps because she had heard what I had said to myself on my first visit and liked what I wanted to do with the place,” Garbanzos said.

The next challenge was to find water after a surveyor told Garbanzos that the place was dry. Residents advised him to seek help from a siruhana (healer in contact with the spirits).

A 70-year-old woman from La Castellana town was brought to the property. She walked around and repeatedly said: “Albert Garbanzos, our friend, is asking for water.”

‘Balete’ tree
After three days, the chanting woman approached a huge balete tree. She later told Garbanzos: “Sir, the diwata said she will give you water. She likes you.”

A water diviner, this time, went near the tree and indicated the location of an underground river. True enough, the water body was unearthed at the spot.

In seven months, Garbanzos built his house on the hill.
When the first room was finished, he felt like someone woke him up at 2:30 a.m. He was amazed to see hundreds of colorful butterflies on the glass window panel.

The butterflies were accompanied by two large mariposas that looked like king and queen, Garbanzos said.

“It was definitely not the time of day when butterflies appear. It was as if they came to welcome me to my new home,” he said.

La Vista Highlands was completed in nine months, with two swimming pools. Nearby lots are being sold to those who want to build their own dream houses.

In keeping with his promise, Garbanzos said his contract with the lot owners called for the planting of trees in at least one-tenth of the property.
Now that his dream house has been built, Garbanzos loves sitting on the veranda: The view of Mt. Mandalagan and Mt. Kanlaon is breath-taking while the cool mountain breeze is relaxing.

“It is so beautiful. It feels like I was meant to find the place,” he said.
Of course, he was able to do so with help from the Diwata of Kilometer 67, he adds. SOURCE

[Christerdom]

Originally Posted by bacolodchamp

SILAY CITY; CENTER OF CULTURE, ARTS AND ECOTOURISM IN WV

nice low light photography

[Linguine]

Bun Su Chosi Temple

[Christendom]

Glass museum adds sparkle to Bacolod



BACOLOD CITY—Enthusiasts and tourists in Bacolod City will be enthralled by this latest attraction in Negros Occidental’s capital city, which is probably the first of its kind in the country.

Vintage Glasses Museum displays a collection of over 2,000 glass pieces, including dinnerware, Victorian lamps, decorative objects, decanters and commemorative plates of different hues and intricate designs.

About 95 percent of the collection of Tomas Claridad Casiano, a floral designer for the rich and famous in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, came from the United States and were acquired in a span of 20 years.

These include depression glasses, which are colored glassware made primarily during the depression years in the United States from 1904 to 1940—green, pink, red, yellow, amber, ruby and fire, cobalt blue, aquamarine and delphite (opaque blue glass).
Casiano, 66, who is known to his clients as Tomiko, also has opalescent glasses, which are actually two layers of glass—one colored and the other clear—and carnival glasses (iridescent glasses usually pattern-molded and treated with metallic salts).

The Vaseline glasses are no longer being produced, he says, because the uranium content was used to achieve the transparent yellow to yellow-green colors.

His collection also includes Jadite, a type of uranium glass that appears in shades of pale green, and Milk, an opaque or translucent, or milky white colored glass, blown or pressed into a wide variety of shapes.
Also in his collection are pressed glass pieces and crystals with sterling silver overlays.

Source: inquirer.net

[JuIcYdUdE22]

Governor General Frank Murphy Visiting Negros.

Nice..

[Christendom]

Lacson Ruin - Talisay City, Negros Occidental


















(photo courtesy by Lik Baton Boot)

[bacolodchamp]

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


Restoration of Gen. Lacson’s house starts

GALAH Foundation(General Aniceto Lacson Ancestral Home Foundation) has begun the much-needed restoration of the Aniceto Lacson Mansion.

The ancestral home is now owned by the heirs of Carmen Lacson and Ricardo Claparols in Talisay City, that is also known as the former Malacañang of Negros.

One of the grandest homes in the Philippines, the house was built in the 1880s by General Aniceto Lacson for his wife, Rosario Araneta, and their family, GALAH president Anna Balcells said yesterday.

Today, it is co-owned by fourth-generation descendants of the General (Claparols/Balcells/Rossellos) and most of them joined forces to establish the Foundation, whose main function is to restore their ancestral home.

Lacson was a nationalist and member of the Katipunan, who was among those who successfully led a province-wide revolt against the Spaniards that started Nov. 5, 1898 and ended the following day with Spanish surrender, Balcells added.

He was installed as President of the short-lived Cantonal Republic of Negros that ended after surrendering to the American regime in 1899, she said.

A yearly province-wide celebration in Negros, the “Cinco de Noviembre”, commemorates the Republic of Negros and Don Aniceto Lacson.

During his short tenure as the only president of the Cantonal Republic of Negros, Lacson maintained his offices at the General Aniceto Lacson Ancestral Home that was also the venue for ceremonial occasions, Balcells said.

In recognition of its historic significance, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines declared the house a “National Historical Landmark” in 2002, she added.

Architecturally, the house is one of the most outstanding among the small group of elite heritage houses in the Philippines. It could be said that it is the only one of its type anywhere in the country, Balcells said.

Built in the late 19th century “Floral Style” as defined by author Fernando Zialcita, the ground floor is constructed of bricks and of coral stone that is common construction material in the Visayas. The upper floor is entirely of the best Philippine hardwood available at the time, she added.

“Exquisite architectural details carved by Chinese craftsmen embellish the interior of the house, where carved panels allow air to flow freely. Casa Grande, as the house is also known, is the perfect hacienda house that dominates the landscape due to its prominent location,” Balcells said.

However, today the house suffers the fate of many old houses that badly need conservation. With the degraded condition of the structure, the conservation is timely and will prevent further deterioration, she said.

Supervising conservation work is a team headed by architects Augusto Villalon and Melvin Patawaran, both heritage architecture specialists.

GALAH Foundation is grateful to the PSF (President’s Social Fund) for part of the budget required to start the restoration, although much more is needed to complete the restoration that is budgeted to cost P4 million that the Foundation is raising from public and private sources, Balcells said.

Lacson descendant and co-owner of the house, Miguel Rosselló, says, “the hope of the family is that this ancestral house be restored to its former grandeur and for it to last for generations to come.”

source

[Christendom]

Bacoleño green activist models green house


(photo courtesy by Rusty Binas)

CONSISTENT with his advocacy of restoring ecological balance, green activist Rusty Binas has started to erect his own model of green house in Bacolod City.

Binas, a global advisor of Holland-based development funding agency CORDAID, is erecting a house in his small lot in Marapara Heights.

The house is a combination of the basic elements of green architecture and stone-age architectural concept that evolved during the late Neolithic period in Greece.

Binas’ own concept of green house is not really new but offers a lot of unique systems. For one, it reduces construction costs by introducing the use of volcanic rocks, clay, mud and pebbles, and it utilizes its rooftop as rain water catchment and for potable water storage.

Natural aesthetics is another unique feature of the house’s design, employing the concept of stones and rocks for the house columns, foundations and ceilings, making it appear like a stone house in the Neolithic period around 4000 BC.

Each main column has a built-in drip water system, complement of gravitational water pressure from the rooftop water catchment to keep the column wet, develop moss on it and further harden it overtime.

To maximize a natural cooling system, Binas employed the concept of a house design that has less walls and covers for its rooms, kitchen and living room to allow free flowing of fresh air in any part of the house and the maximum utilization of daylight, with automatic closure system during wind and rain surge. Even its comfort room is without roofing to allow maximum light and fresh air, but with automatic canopy system during rainy times. With it, the house needs no air conditioning units and fans, and needs no artificial lights during daytime.

Another feature of this house is the utilization of green energy through solar power for its lightings, water system, few AC facilities, and for power charging needs. So even with long brownouts in the neighborhood, Binas house will be worry-free for light and house temperature because nature will provide.

Like any green architect, Binas believes that his green house model that provides fresh air, adequate natural light, and health energy flows will ensure the well-being of his family and all those who will have time to stay in their house.

When asked for the price of his house, Binas did not disclose the total budget but stressed, “Doing away with lots of expensive materials and unnecessary conventional designs, one need not have the technical knowledge of engineers and architects to guess the cost of the house.”

Binas, who travels the world regularly, especially in Asia, India and Africa helping governments and non-government organizations in modeling and developing sustainable and resilient communities, also said that being in the environmental advocacy and disaster risks reduction program, “one must simply walk his talk,” a euphemism for being true to what one preaches.

Binas is also one of the founding members of the green activist movement Green Alert Negros and mentors dozens of government and non-government leaders involved in green projects.

“What I am doing is simply promoting healthy lifestyle, convincing every living being to live in harmony with nature, protecting and managing natural resources, and helping the most-at-risk communities overcome their problems and become resilient,” Binas said.