"Madam! Kasipag da naman ding bisita yu. Alas-4 ning abak atin ng atlung matwang mamalis ampong mipag-istorya king balkun yu!"
lola Noning 1901 - 1994
lola Luming 1907 - 1999
lola Pat 1913 - 2004
My mother's aunts who stayed in Concepcion (lola Embing moved to Manila and lola Madre stayed at the convent) lived in this house across the town plaza when her father, lolo Edong (the only brother in a family of 6), moved his family to the house in the barrio. My mom says it was built in the 1930's, one of the few residential houses designed by National Artist Juan Nakpil.
My mom's cousin, Tita Mel, now lives by herself at a second house behind the original house. When I was small, I remember coming to Concepcion to these houses full of people: my grandmothers, cousins and aunts and uncles. Marriage, family, career, migration, death has silenced the old house. Now, it still looks the same as all those years ago, still pretty but now showing its age and oh so much quieter.
Super nice: both the story and the house =) And it was designed by a National Artist! Our ancestral home in Tarlac is more run down... but yours is well-maintained! =)
ReplyDeletethanks maia!
ReplyDeletemakes my hair stand on end, but i love it (the house and the story)!
It must be nice to have such memories and an ancestral home to trigger those memories. In my case I don't have those kasi "putok sa buho" lang ako. (That's what my dear departed lola used to say about me). :)
ReplyDeletehaha, thanks bob!
ReplyDeleteputok man sa buho may lola ka pa din!
i never knew my maternal grandmother... good thing i had 5 grand aunts!
and it seems at least 3 of them have stuck around to take care of the house... or at least sweep the terrace! :-)
gosh, trinks, save that house!^_^
ReplyDeletejuan nakpil's creation? this must be a treasure! juan nakpil is one of the country's early architects, and indeed a very good architect. he designed the quezon memorial and the up admin bldg.
he also married gregoria de jesus, andres bonifacio's widow, and fathered another great architect by the name of angel nakpil.
that house is a marker.^_^
hi ka rene!
ReplyDeleteyes, the house is indeed a marker, i only learned of it's historic importance when i was an adult na! it just used to be "the house in concep" to me when i was a kid!