Villa Angela, Vigan 2008

Villa Angela, as described in a book entitled 100 Resorts in the Philippines, is a charming, beautiful old house, filled with traces of the past. Located in the central part of Vigan, it was built by Gobernadorcillo Agapito Florendo y Bonifacio, who was a gobernadorcillo of Vigan, La Ciudad Fernandina, in 1859, and his beloved wife, Donya Maria Villanueva, and in time, was inherited by their grandniece, Donya Angela Villanueva y Florendo (married to Don Pastor Verzosa y Florentino), after whom this heritage house was named. Her youngest son, the late Engr. Candelario Villanueva Verzosa, together with his wife, Dra. Purificacion Lahoz Verzosa, painstakingly undertook the restoration of the house to preserve it as a lasting memento. It now serves as the family's repository of antiques, family memorabilia, and historic relics of yesteryears. The house was the venue of their golden wedding anniversary in 1988. My three granddaughters are among the few Verzosa's great-great grandchildren. The elder ones came for a nostalgic visit after an absence of seven years. Villa Angela stands proudly on a 2000 sq. mt. corner lot along Quirino Boulevard and Calle Ventura de los Reyes. The two-storey house nestles at the end of a huge driveway and a quiet garden. A stone staircase leads to a terrace into a vast entrance hall, a grand sala. The high-ceilinged salon opens onto the street through large capiz windows, and is filled with antique furnitures, large Venetian mirrors, and old family portraits. It has four spacious family rooms, fully airconditioned with complete amenities, surrounded with antique furnishings and four-poster canopied beds. The kitchen is welcoming with its well-polished wooden table, and adorned with crockery and an original collection of wicker hats. As welcoming is the huge dining hall with a banquet table that can sit 20 people, surrounded with antique china cabinets filled with collections of dishware, cutlery, drinking vessels, and other collectors items. What was once a storage area for the family's produce on the ground floor has been converted into two airconditioned dormitory rooms with separate facilities and amenities, and a function room for seminars or business meetings. The huge garden can accommodate large and small gatherings of weddings, baptismal parties, and other social activities. Among its prominent celebrity guests include Tom Cruise, who stayed here while filming his movie Born on the 4th of July. The house was the setting of some memorable films like Jose Rizal, Gumising Ka, Maruja, Noli Me Tangere, and the TV series Ana Karenina. More information is available at its own website: http://www.villangela.com/. Come and visit Villa Angela and capture the experience of a rapidly vanishing lifestyle.