I am so glad we had a chance to tour this heritage and convention center. The APEC meeting that was attended by former President Obama, was held here. What is so interesting about the place is that old houses from different locations in the Philippines were dismantled piece by piece, brought here and reassembled piece by piece back into their original grandeur.
A picture with my very gracious cousin, Gemma, who is hosting our whole stay here. We couldn't be any more spoiled than we already are. She takes us places, feeds us our favorite food and gave us our own van and chauffeur to use during our entire stay here.
a jeepney was used to shuttle people inside the resort
John inside the jeepney
John inside the jeepney
The project is not complete yet. More houses are still being assembled but it's already all worth visiting.
Casa Ladrillo
I like how the staff were wearing period outfits. It made us feel like we were really living in the olden times.
Casa Hagonoy
Casa Jaen I. The crowns on top signifies the prominence of the family who lives there, a status symbol
I just love this arched entry. It was moved from Jaen, Nueva Ecija, reconstructed in 2007.
Paseo de la Escolta. The strip of commercial structures are replicas of the typical Escolta buildings in Manila during the early 1900's, Shops and stores on the ground floor and hotels on the top 2 floors. The structures were built based on old photographs found in magazines, using old and new materials.
the pool
Casa Luna
Our tour guide showing us some antiques inside the Casa Luna, circa 1850, a house named in honor of the Luna brothers, General Antonio Luna and Juan Luna, the famous artist. The house was moved here in 2007 from Luna, La Union.
Casa Byzantina, moved from San Nicolas, Binondo, originally built in 1890. It was leased to a an elementary and HS from 1914 to 1919. After the 2nd World War, it was leased to various tenants and until 2009, it was home to 50 squatters,
There is pure elegance inside Casa Byzantina, now that it has been moved and restored. This 3 story house with 7 bedrooms is now available to rent for $3000 (P150,000) per night. But if you do not need the whole house, individual rooms are also rented out, the lowest costs P16,600 which is equivalent to $332 per night. You get a butler per room.
I love this!
The wall paper is hand painted.
Can you imagine how much work it must have been to finish this?
Dining room inside Casa Byzantina
The Convention Center where APEC meeting was held.
Below is what is referred to as the Island. The 3 houses on the far right can be rented collectively for P250,000 ($5000) per night. You get butlers, a heated pool free breakfast and of course 3 houses right on the water. Pretty steep price to rent but wouldn't it be ideal for a big family reunion?
Hope you enjoyed the tour. It was hot and the streets were paved with uneven stones, making it difficult to walk and it was a walking tour. We started with 14 tourists and at the end, it was just me and the tour guide left, lol, so I was like having a private tour with my own photographer. We toured a lot of houses but I did not want to upload a lot of pictures cause this is already getting long.
Thank you for stopping by!