“There’s only one country I haven’t been to. Nepal. I don’t know why – I
just haven’t had the chance” – Don Ado told us after he overheard me asking
my friend Karla “Can you guess how many countries he had
traveled to?.” It wasn’t a question concocted out of the blue. I wondered
about it after surveying through the massive art, historic, religious and
souvenir collection housed inside Don Ado’s private mansion.
A One-man Curator of History and Culture
Inheriting a flair for
collecting mementoes of significance, from his parents Arsenio and Rosario
Escudero – also the founders of Villa Escudero – Don Conrado (Ado) multiplied the family’s collection
through his own passion of assembling relics with traditional, spiritual,
artistic and historic importance. The house where he lives is dotted from wall
to wall of items brought from all over the world. The hallway leading to the master’s
and guest rooms are decked with paintings from prominent painters such as
Fernando Amorsolo and Felix Resureccion Hidalgo just to name a few.
What is truly remarkable
is the absolute sharpness of Don Ado’s memory in recalling the tales behind
most of his collections. At one point he pointed at a centuries old wooden arch
adorned with intricate carvings “I got that
at Yogyakarta. I passed by it near a temple and asked the caretaker if I can
buy it. The next day I came in with a truck ready to haul it”.
He ushered us deep inside
his house entering a spacious living room filled with sculptures, statues,
paintings, old photographs, colonial furniture and other what-haves one sees
inside a museum.
With my mind blown away and
jaw almost dropping to the floor, we ended our tour only to know we have yet to
see the real collection of the Escudero family – all of which are kept but
available for public viewing, at the Escudero Private Museum. “Now the real tour begins” Don Ado tells
us.
Pink Church-like Museum of Villa Escudero
How would you react if I
tell you that the original altar of Quiapo Church is still in well-preserved condition?
And no, it isn’t the one you see inside the Minor Basilica of the Black
Nazarene in Manila. The original altar is housed inside the Escudero Museum
where it stands as a striking centerpiece surrounded by other religious and
historical pieces.
No thanks to the Church’s
post-war parish priest who wanted to replace the original altar with a new one,
- and thanks to the Escudero family for recognizing the importance of conserving
it, the original altar now serves as the highlight of the museum.
If you're a history junky you
will definitely have a splendid time inside the Villa Escudero museum. The place is
almost stacked from wall to wall, ground to ceiling – on both floors of
stunning and interesting pieces. There is also a section dedicated to taxidermy
where you can see preserved animals such as the Philippine Eagle, the Tamaraw and
many others. Most of which were from the many hunting soirees of the Escudero
patriarch from the decades preceding WWII.
Information overload and
visual feast surely awaits every visitor who enters the doors of the Escudero
Private Museum. While I find all the facts explained to us by Chef Cocoy
Ventura III – Villa Escudero’s Executive Chef -, hard to digest and compress
inside my brain, I welcomed all the new-found knowledge I amassed because it
felt like going on a time travel through Philippine history as well.
The Heritage Houses: Escudero Mansion and Casa Consuelo
“But wait, there’s more” rang inside my head as If I was watching a
home shopping show on TV, only this time more than products being advertised,
we found ourselves being indulged by a very enlightening walking tour around
the vast collection of the Escudero clan.
A sprawling well-manicured garden fronts the Villa Escudero Ancestral Mansion where the other surviving sisters
of Don Ado resides. Not open for tourists, but we were fortunate to get inside
with the permission from Don Ado. Made mostly from rare red narra wood, this
pink and white mansion has a short flight of stair leading to the front door. Upon stepping inside you will quickly notice the dark brown wooden floor and thick marble table tops.
Hanging lavish chandeliers, artworks from famed artists, iron candle
stands, religious statues such as a life-size Nuestra Senora de Paloma made of
solid ivory, and a sleeping Sto Nino (Santo
Nino Dormido) are just among the eye-popping collections housed inside.
Casa Consuelo was an old
ancestral house originally constructed in Pampanga in the later part of the
1800s and used to be owned by then Angeles City Mayor Don Esteban Gomez and his
wife Doña Josefa Pamintuan de Gomez. It was bought and transferred to Villa
Escudero piece by piece and reconstructed to its present site.
Today, it stands as a
perfect accompaniment to the Escudero Ancestral House and Museum as an added
attraction beaming with an appealing colonial architecture – specifically embodying
the floral style prevalent in the late 19th century.
“This is the only house that houses authentic antique furniture. There
isn’t a single fake here,” Don Ado reveals in an earlier interview with the
Philippine Daily Inquirer. With wide
windows and a roomy layout, the sunlight seeps through and brightens the
interior adorned with mostly wooden materials and antique furniture.
Various rooms surrounds
the square-shaped hallway overlooking an expansive lobby. Imprints from the
works of art from the who's who of the art world are kept in posterity inside
this house. Isabelo Tampinco's sculptures, Chinese artisan Ah Tay's carved
four-poster bed and renowned European furniture makers; August Thonet are just
some of the highlight pieces found in this house.
Unlike the Escudero
Ancestral Mansion, Casa Consuelo is included along with the main Museum, in the
heritage tours being offered by Villa
Escudero to their guests.
More than a place to
unwind and relax close to nature, Villa Escudero – as I discovered, is also all
about digging deep into our rich culture. If these beautiful vestiges of the
past which the Escuderos have collected and stored could talk, expect to listen
for hours, days and even weeks – as the stories it could tell might even last a
lifetime. In the meantime, if you chance upon Don Ado, there is a big chance he will be willing to
tell you some of these fascinating stories.
****************
