THE RUINS

This visit was not planned, as always. My friends are the spontaneous type. I was sleeping after my graveyard shift when I received a text message from Lee that later in the afternoon we will rock THE RUINS in Talisay. It's sad to note though that LEE (next to me) is leaving bacolod so soon. And I think that's the major major reason for this escapade.

I googled THE RUINS IN TALISAY for some basic information and I found an article written by Mini Javellana - J. Here it goes:

The structure of The RUINS is of Italianate architecture with neo-Romanesque twin columns. In New England, they often were homes to ship's captains. The father of Maria Braga was a captain of the ship. The mansion was built after the death of Maria Braga and it became Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson's mansion residence with his unmarried children.

It was the largest residential structure ever built at that time. Felipe, one of the sons, supervised the construction making certain that the A-grade mixture of concrete and its pouring was precisely followed.

The structure met its sad fate in the early part of World War II when the USAFFE, then guerilla fighters in the Philippines burned the mansion to prevent the Japanese forces from using it as their headquarters.

Despite the inferno that it underwent, bringing down the roof and the 2-inch wooden floors, the structure still stands and has withstood the test of time mainly due to the oversized steel bars and the A-grade mixture of concrete used to build it.

The monumental size and grandeur of The RUINS bespeaks of the lifestyle of the "Hacienderos" in the not-so-distant past.

The pipes used to channel the electric wires, imbedded in the ceiling are still used today. The 4-tiered fountain was done after the mansion was built. Angelina, one of the daughters, maintained a beautiful lily garden in and around. A Japanese gardener painstakingly took care of the plants until the burning of the mansion.

A belvedere at the second floor, facing west, in a glassed-in sunroom with bay windows affords a beautiful view of the sunset and the coast line of Talisay City.

The tiles seen today in the mansion are all original. Arrays of varied designs of tiles used throughout the mansion have been grouped together at the foyer of the back entrance of the mansion.

The flooring used for the mansion were alternating red and yellow long-span, 2-inch thick, hard wood running from the main entrance facing the fountain all the way to the end of the dining room with no joints. They were a meter wide and 20.5 meters long. The living room near the veranda and all the bedrooms were all of wooden floors.