The past is alive!
The book ‘Houses That Sugar Built’ relives the glorious history of the mansions of the wealthy, well-travelled set of Filipinos who made their fortune from the boom years of the Philippine sugar industry from the 1890s to the 1930s
Text and photos by Pocholo Concepcion
The 2024 staging of the annual Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo turned more special with the launch of Houses That Sugar Built — a magnificently illustrated coffee table book that relives the glorious history of the mansions of the wealthy, well-travelled set of Filipinos who made their fortune from the boom years of the Philippine sugar industry from the 1890s to the 1930s.
Written by Gina Consing McAdam (whose own ancestral home opens the book) and photographed by Siobhan Doran (an Irish woman trained in architectural technology and whose photo of one of the abodes was selected for a prestigious London event), Houses… consists of 22 residences where their owners lived while building their fortune: 11 in Iloilo; 10 in Bacolod; and two in Pampanga.
Art+ joined a media tour in Iloilo, hosted by the book’s publisher, SM Prime, to take a close look at some of the houses, attend the book’s formal launch, and have a glimpse of the drumbeats driven Dinagyang.
Nelly Garden, built in 1928 by Vicente Villanueva Lopez and his wife Elene Hofileña Lopez, is a Neoclassical, colonial-style mansion that opens to an expansive space meant for performance and dancing — where the family hosted formal parties for VIPs from Manila and abroad, including members of the diplomatic corps.
The first stop, the Nelly Garden in Jaro, Iloilo, is considered the crown jewel among the houses. Its grand façade bears, in Roman numerals, the year it was erected in 1928.
Built by Vicente Villanueva Lopez and his wife Elene Hofileña Lopez, the Neoclassical, colonial-style mansion opens to an expansive space meant for performance and dancing — where the family hosted formal parties for VIPs from Manila and abroad, including members of the diplomatic corps.
This is also the house where future ABS-CBN founders Eugenio Lopez Sr. and his brother Fernando (who was twice elected as Philippine Vice President) grew up. Their uncle Vicente became their surrogate father following the assassination in 1908 of their dad Benito, who was then Iloilo governor.
Vicente’s great-granddaughter Francesca “Frannie” Jison Golez is quoted in the book: “The house is one big story. You can take your piece of it, and it will talk back to you. Families have a responsibility to preserve what is here and what is left of the past. What some people may throw away, because they think it is worthless, I see so much value and history.”
Eugenio Lopez Sr. built his grand residence in 1936 in La Paz, Iloilo — dubbed the Lopez Boat House, an Art Deco/Moderne mansion that his son Oscar described as looking “like a battleship.”
Lopez Boat House
Eugenio Lopez Sr. himself built his own grand residence in 1936 in La Paz, Iloilo — dubbed the Lopez Boat House, an Art Deco/Moderne mansion that his son Oscar described as looking “like a battleship.”
The four-storey structure resembles a vintage ocean liner with a tower that leads to a viewing deck and ground floor spiral staircase, complemented by interiors showcasing 1930s-style furniture.
A quote, written by architect Augusto Villalon in a previous book, “Iloilo: A Rich and Noble Land,” says, “The Boat House vocabulary of shapes captures the romance of ocean liners and the ultramodern optimism of the era.”
From 1992 to 1997, the PAREF Westbridge School for boys leased the Boat House. In 2002, it was declared a Heritage House by the National Historical Commission.
The Celso Ledesma House in Iloilo City is striking for its quirks. “At once stately and playful, traditional and avant-garde,” the book says, it is “a fascinating, if perplexing, experience.” For instance, the dining room features a horseshoe table and fountain.
Celso Ledesma House
Meanwhile, the Celso Ledesma House in Iloilo City is striking for its quirks. “At once stately and playful, traditional and avant-garde,” the book says, it is “a fascinating, if perplexing, experience.” For instance, the dining room features a horseshoe table and fountain.
“We don’t really know the history of the house or why Lolo Celso chose these things… Maybe he was just a collector because he would have lots of cash, and he would go around the world and collect things,” his great-grandson Patrick Ledesma Jamora says in the book.
Celso was a bachelor who passed on the house to his favorite nephew, Tomas Simeon Zafiro Jalbuena Ledesma, who accompanied his uncle on trips overseas.
Later, Zafiro, wife Gilda, and their seven children lived in the house, including musician Rizal “Dondi” Ledesma.
Buffet lunch was served at Balay Remedios in Iloilo City, built in 1917 by engineer Eusebio Conlu Villanueva, whose heirs led by Antonio “Tony” Padilla Villanueva, with wife Charito, have converted the salmon pink-color main sala into a restaurant.
Balay Remedios
Buffet lunch was served at Balay Remedios in Iloilo City, built in 1917 by engineer Eusebio Conlu Villanueva, whose heirs led by Antonio “Tony” Padilla Villanueva, with wife Charito, have converted the salmon pink-color main sala into a restaurant.
The house was named after Tony’s grandmother, Remedios Melliza Sian Villanueva — whose family had owned sugar lands in Negros Oriental.
According to the book, the house was originally built as the residence of sugar planter Julio Ledesma. But in 1928, Eusebio — who with his brother Serafin were once known as the “Building Kings” of Iloilo — bought the house for himself.
“The house is full of surprises,” the book says. “Its delicately patterned timber paneling and Japanese-style sliding screens belie a modern, concrete structural frame.
“In these and several other ways, the dwelling is an expression of its businessman builder’s taste, gleaned from participation in the 20th century equivalent of the European Grand Tour and other trips — travel, sometimes for as long as six months for a time, being the only true luxury that the Villanuevas, never otherwise extravagant, afforded themselves.”
The book’s launch was held at the Molo Mansion, formerly the Yusay-Consing Ancestral House built in 1926, which SM Prime purchased and preserved for adaptive reuse as a retail enterprise with products from Kultura, cultural hub, and event space.
Molo Mansion
The book’s launch was held at the Molo Mansion, formerly the Yusay-Consing Ancestral House built in 1926, which SM Prime purchased and preserved for adaptive reuse as a retail enterprise with products from Kultura, cultural hub, and event space.
In attendance were relatives of the original owners of the houses featured in the book. Evident in their conversations with Art+ were a mixture of pride and humility in being part of “Houses…”
The book is a collective memoir filled with insights on the sociohistorical context of the houses. It is a showcase of the house owners’ desire to bring into the country the architectural trends they saw during their world travels. The houses stand not just as mute witnesses, but also as vibrant reminders, of a bygone period.
