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Just a few of the Lopez Family Mansions of IloiloSights & Sounds of Ilo²

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I am getting really confused. I suppose you could say, that it’s not surprising,since I’m a ‘foreigner’ and don’t yet fully understand the intricacies of Filipinosociety.

I am confused, because of the sheer magnitude of this family called theLopez’s of Iloilo. There are just so many of them, I mean I have seen homes andmansions all over the region and have been told incessantly: “hey that housebelongs to the Lopez’s…and a few blocks later, the same thing. It just happensover and over again – it just never stops.

I’ve therefore decided to talk about the Lopez’s I have been able to discoversomething about and the others well, we’ll see! Enjoy!

And please remember, I mean no slight to any member of the august family. I’dlove to tell the full story, but I can’t, there’s not much information out there. I’msorry, I’m doing the best I can with the hand I’ve been dealt…

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So, on this beautiful January day, the team and I have been out visiting allmanner of locations, homes, mansions and some other buildings for some ofour upcoming articles for the website.

We’ve been at it all morning and I’m starting to get grumpy – which for me is anormal condition. I’m usually grumpy most of the time…but once you get pastthe grumpiness I’m really a very nice guy…

Anyway, we’ve just explored the site of the Old Provincial Jail next door to theIloilo Provincial Capitol, the sun is out and it’s just a glorious day. I spy thatMansion across Bonifacio Drive from the Legislature and the Museo de Iloilo.

I’ve seen it before as we were driving by, but never this close up. No one at thetime seems to know much about it, except me, I’ve got this idea that it must bepretty damned important so we take the time to fight the traffic and cross thisbusy road and spend about 45 minutes photographing it and just looking andadmiring it. I’d just love to be able to see and photograph the interior…PLEASEMR VILLANUEVA! Right! I discovered it was the Eusebio Villanueva Mansion andthat it has a very interesting back story which I’ve reported in an earlier Sights &Sounds of Ilo² story…

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So, it’s getting later and I’m getting grumpier and grumpier ‘cause I’m gettinghungrier and hungrier.

I just quit smoking after 50 years of addiction and I’m sorry to say that food hastaken the place of my nicotine addition and I’ve gained almost 50 pounds in thepast 7 or 8 months. I need my fix!

We mount up – and the “wreck of the road” under the captaincy of Sir Niloheads along Bonifacio towards Jaro and the wonders that await us over there.

Now these days on the road sort of go by like a blur…I try to keep meticulousnotes - but with my tremor I find it hard to write long hand and so lately I’vebeen using my tablet or cell phone to dictate note to. But, they’re not alwaysthat reliable.

In any event. I’m not quite exactly sure in what precise order we saw thesehomes, so you’ll have to excuse if this old guy with the failing memory didn’tput them in the right order. And I’m still hungry!

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Well, Nilo points out this monstrosity, which he claims belongs to the Lopezfamily. Apparently, it’s called the Lopez Pink Palace Mansion. With my sincereapologies to the family…Nilo shouts over the traffic: “Hey Bro! Want me tostop?” “No way says I - I’m not wasting with something like that.”

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Well, our next stop is a little more promising. It’s called the Lopez Boat House.(What’s with these people? A Pink Palace Mansion and A Boat House? Weird orwhat!).

We stop in the middle of traffic, as is the habit in this town and step out of thecar to do our business completely disregarding the inconvenience we have putthe other drivers to…it’s just the way things are done around here.

Problem with this place is that it’s surrounded by an 8 foot block fence. It’spainted pink too! So I’m trying to find a way to peer over that damnable fence. Imanaged to perch myself on the seat of the car, sticking out the door and theresult can be seen on the next photo. A Good thing I have a 60X telephoto lenson this camera, because I was able to get a picture of the CommemorativePlaque beside the door. And then I found another great picture of the place onanother website…and I thank AGBoi.Blogspot.Com for the use of their photo…

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Don Eugenio Hofileña Lopez Sr,he’s the one who started it all.And guess what? He started it allwith a small bus company here inthe province. Well, he was giventhe ‘Boat House’ by his children .Interesting! Sounds familiar inour family too…

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The Iloilo Boathouse is a four-storey white mansion owned byEugenio H. Lopez Sr. The name "Boat House" was given to it by hischildren. The mansion is built in the art deco style and was designedby Architect Fernando Ocampo Sr. who was in Iloilo at the time.

The designs of the house provide additional effects to its architecturalexcellency. These designs, especially the geometric designs, wereused for architectural details. The austere walls are punctuated byhuge colored glass-covered openings. The main door, made of tallPhilippine hardwood-and-glass, opens to a narrow foyer and leads tothe spacious living room and the dinning room. The main staircase isspiral and made of elegant wood. It leads to the bedrooms on thesecond floor. Another circular staircase made of magnificent steel,connects the bedroom floor to the uppermost floor. At the interior ofthe house is furnished entirely in the 1930 style.

The quality of the architectural design of the house can easily becompared with the architecture of the Modern Movement in Europeand the United States at about the same time. Its structure is moderneven by present day standards. In the late 1930s it was refurbishedunder the supervision of Pando Ocampo, the son of the originalarchitect.

Architect Fernando Ocampo

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The Lopez “Boat House”

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AGBoi.Blogspot.Com

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Don Vicente Lopez & Dona Eleña Holfileña y Lopez, theBuilders of Nelly’s Gardens

Don Vicente & Doña Eleña had four children:• Nelly, married Salvador Zamora• Benito, married Leonor de la Rama• Lilia, married Francisco Lopez Jison• Vicente, married Maria Rita M. ZamorraIn addition they adopted the sons of Don Vicente’s older brother Benito, who wasassassinated when he was the Vice-Governor of Iloilo Province in 1908.• Eugenio Sr. became the family’s Tycoon &• Fernando, became a 3 term Vice-President of the Philippines.

It’s also interesting to note that not only were DonBenito and Don Vicente brothers but their wives DoñaEleña and Doña Presentaciõn were also sisters.

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Nelly’s Gardens shortly after it opened

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The Lopez’s, Don Vicente and Dona Elena lived quite near the Jaro Cathedralbut the constant sounds of traffic and of the cannons being fired during themany religious and other festivals led to the family's decision to move to amore peaceful location.

They eventually settled on a 4 hectare piece of property about a kilometre or sofrom the Jaro town center. Construction of the mansion was completed in1928.

The home was christened Nelly's Gardens, after the couple's eldest daughter,Nelly Lopez y Hofileña, who was a gardening maven even at her young age.The house is a classic example of a Beaux-Arts mansion.

During the Second World War, the mansion was very nearly burned down tothe ground when Filipino guerillas under Ilonggo General Peralta who wereordered to burn every mansion in the province to prevent them from beingused by the occupying “japons” as their headquarters or for prisons

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Don Francisco Jison & Doña Lilia López y Hofileña deJison. They managed the Estate after the senior López diedand did so until 2000 when Doña Lilia, herself, died at age88.

Don Francisco’s & Doña Lilia’s daughters: Lourdes LópezJison Ledesma & Elena López Jison-Golez currentlymanage the day to day operations of Nelly’s Gardens andtheir brother Francisco Lopez Jison Jr., resides on theestate year-round

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Doña Lilia Lopez - Jison and her husband begged the guerillas to spare thehouse.

Just as kerosene was being poured around the place, a squad of Japanesesoldiers appeared and a heavy exchange of gunfight ensued. By the end of thisencounter, the Guerillas had escaped with members of the family and theMansion was spared. By the end of the war, the house had survived in onepiece despite having been the Japanese headquarters for the region.

Over the years, the house has served as a venue for elegant parties andmeetings attended by some of history's most renowned figures such as:American Governors-General including Frank Murphy and Teddy Roosevelt Jr.,Thailand's Prince Chupra, Former First Lady Imelda Marcos and late presidentCory Aquino.

Due to its cultural and architectural importance, the National Historical Institutedeclared the property to be a National Heritage House on March 28, 2004.

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Don Benito & Doña Presentaciõn with their children Julieta, Fernando & Eugenio

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Don Vicente’s older brother Benito, the then 27 year old Governor of IloiloProvince was assassinated in 1908. his widow Doña Presentaciõn Hofileñaviuda de Lopez, retired to the old turn of the century house perched on an isletat the storied “Roca Encantada” on the 400 hectare ancestral Hofileña“hacienda” in Guimaras island.

Lilia, Don Vicente’s younger daughter spent a great deal of her childhood atRoca Encantada with her two cousins Eugenio and Fernando as well as DoñaPresentaciõn’s adopted daughter Julieta with whom she had been very close.

The story of Roca Encantada goes something like this Roca Encantada means‘Enchanted Rock’. The current rest house was built in 1910 as a tribute to DonaPresentaciõn.

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Jomarie Acallar: friend, navigator, facilitator & assistant discoverer

Nilo Jimeno: friend, pilot, facilitator & assistant discoverer

Thank You!• AGBoi.Blogspot.Com• Constantine Augustin Photography 2013• Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia• Research Center for Iloilo