Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Batangas | Marcela Agoncillo House


BATANGAS | Marcela Agoncillo House
Taal Heritage Town Photowalk


Like the other Heritage Houses we visited in Taal, The Marcela Agoncillo House is another Casa de Agoncillo. Could be said as the 2nd Agoncillo house because of the most prominent resident this house had ever had. The Marcela Agoncillo house was actually built by Marcela's grandfather Andres Marino. By any means, this is the ancestral house she grew up. Built in the late 1700's and known today to be one of the oldest house in the town of Taal. Heirs of the family had donated this property to the government and is now being maintained by The Department Of Tourism.

The house was turned to a museum and monument commemorating the making of the Philippine Flag, as was Dona Marcela Marino Agoncillo's legacy to our nation as the weaver of the first Philippine Flag, gaining her the title of The Mother Philippine National Flag as its principal seamstress, its the same flag that was hoisted from the window of Emilio Aguinaldo's House in Kawit, Cavite. Check this link to know more about the making of The First Philippine Flag from the National Historical Commission. 


On the entrance, one had to walk through a walkway that looks like a parking lot in the ground floor. Before taking the staircase is the commemorative tableau of 3 women sewing the flag. The three women are Dona Marcela herself as the central figure, flanking at her sides the little girl is her eldest daughter Lorenza and other girl is Delfina Herbosa de Natividad, a niece of Jose Rizal. Before we were to mount the staircase to where the grand salon of the house is place like any Spanish inspired houses, we first went through the small library and museum just a couple of flat forms from the ground floor. We were briefed by a guide of the house with the brief history of the prominent historical figure that had called this home. On this library is the hired weaver showing us how weaving is done. Taal may have a lot of Heritage houses, but only a select number of Historical Landmark, this is what makes this house apart from a lot of Kastillan houses in Taal.

Its a grand house, reminiscent of the glory and richness that adorned its halls. Exquisitely sculpted wooden boxes (Bauls), Chinese and Edwardian furniture's,  the all too familiar Capiz Shell windows, four poster beds, and the everlasting feel of old wood. 




Impersonal and otherworldly, these are but some of the impressions I got from this house. Spacious and open aired, though the family was Illustrado in rank and the children's of Felipe and Marcela Agoncillo all grew up to be highly educated and religious, their old rosary beads left not an impression of themselves. Their old crumbling books fall in decay on the shelves. As was, I wandered in the house swimming in my own imagination, enraptured by the creepy rooms and the baby grand piano by the door, the full length mirrors so clear I can only assume that silver adorned the back of this heavy glass. It's hot, its forlorn and may even be a grave of rich memories, of ages long past whose legacy continues.






Francis Balgos is a Call Center Agent, Weekend Travel Warrior, Amateur Spelunker, Sometime Surfer, Newbie Mountain Climber, Photography Enthusiast, Certified Beach Bum, A first born son, Faithful lover, True Explorer...

Follow Me


All Rights Reserved
Pala-lagaw reserves the right for any watermarked pictures posted
No pictures should be downloaded or copied without permission from the blogger.

20 comments:

  1. As far as I can remember I've only been to a handful of heritage houses in the Philippines. That heritage house looks like a good place to know more about our own culture and history as Filipinos.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It would be interesting to see the house and what inspired her to sew the Philippine flag.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ancestral houses never fail to impress me, I remember my visit to Carcar Cebu, the place have lots of old structures.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow. It is like Intramuros. I think it's the closest to a Spanish inspired community that I visited. Next is Dumaguete's Spanish Heritage. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good that we were able to preserve her house. I wanna go there as well and experience the interior of the house.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The house interiors plus the furniture and fixtures made me remember the Crisologo's house in Vigan.

    ReplyDelete
  7. aww! Nice to see this post! haha brings back my good ole' memories! I've been here before i think with my frends! Nice to be seeing this. it gives me chills bringing back my friends good bonding too xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is just a few of heritage houses that exists today. I do hope the government or any other entities will continue to take effort in preserving these homes just as we wanted our culture to remain.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very impressive. I just can't imagine that we still have a place like this in the Philippines. You can sense that this house is plentiful of heritage. But yeah, kinda creepy nga. Maybe because of the old Maria Clara dress na nakadispplay (parang sa horror movie). Thank you pa rin to DOT for preserving this house. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Its good to know that houses as historic as these are being preserved and is opened for people to see..

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ancestral houses is really a good place to learn the history of our country. Nice Photos by the way.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I've been to Batangas twice already but I've never heard of this place, bummer! It's really amazing for me how people were able to preserve such a work of art, and if ever I'd come back to Batangas once again, I would surely try to visit this place.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I still have to go to Taal and experience it's rich history. I live in Silay which is also a heritage city and it will be interesting to compare it with Taal.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Nice to know that Batangas government is doing their best to preserve this house. I wish I can visit the place soon and know more history about it.

    ReplyDelete
  15. wow! The place is well-preserved. Next time na mapadaan ako sa Taal, I'm definitely will visit this place.

    ReplyDelete
  16. We've been there last November with Sir Jo Avila on a photo tour. The house was really historic though sad to say, the pictures I took got corrupted (with my hard drive). I just hope I could visit the place once more.

    ReplyDelete
  17. It's good that they are taking good care of our historical places...At least we will have a good connection to our past, kahit matagal na matagal na.Yahweh bless

    ReplyDelete
  18. A very historic house, a house where the flag of the Philippines was maid, good that it is preserved

    ReplyDelete
  19. I wish I can go in this memorable experience, a historical, photowalk :) will look forward to be a part in this group :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Let Me Know Your Thoughts