The languid Relax chaise combines plantation mahogany and solihiya (open cane-weave). This modernized planter's chair and the runo-grass tray on the floor are examples of eco-friendly, organic furniture design by Ravi Singh of Lightworks, Manila. Two oversized candle stands entwined in rattan vine and a hollow rattan globe are designs by Carlo Tanseco for The Store Inc., Makati. The stoneware tea set is from Regalong Pambahay, Ortigas.
The Zobels' casually elegant lanai, dressed with romantic Oriental overtones. Here is the indoor-outdoor lifestyle at its best-with a picturesque view of the bamboo grove. The fanciful candlelight chandelier is by Yola Johnson.
Hacienda Romance
This hacienda-style home with a distinct Mexican flair was the first residence designed by the young Andy Locsin, a Harvard-educated, progressive architect. Inspired by the modern works of renowned Mexican architect, Lu is Barragan, Locsin designed a large homestead for the Spanish-Filipino, Jaime Augusto Zobel and his Colombian wife, Lizzie. An elegant home, it was conceived to evolve continually in style as their family grows.
There's already been a fiery new incarnation to the house. The modern, all-white stucco walls have been rekindled in a Beijing terracotta red tone and many of the lanai rooms have taken a dramatic turn- towards an unabashed romantic flavour not previously there. Lizzie Zobel derives her many inspirations from mixed international sources, then collaborates the arrangement with her favourite designer, Yola Perez Johnson, owner of the abaca carpet shop, Soumak.
Yola Johnson has a gift for mixing rustic materials and romantic imagery. She entered the field of interior design through the manufacture and export of Soumak's abaca-hemp carpets, hand-woven pieces much sought after by clubs and resorts (today every rustic-chic residence has one or two). Johnson wields her talent for home-decor using the most native, natural materials and then imbues her creations with pizzazz within its interior setting. She in turn credits her savvy client for being " so open" to her exotic, exuberant ways with ho me design. She draws attention to the Zobels' giant padded coffeetable (see right), created from wrapping a woven mat around a massive wooden box, and praises Lizzie Zobel's acumen by commenting that "most homeowners could not work with those big proportions". She also custom designs furniture such as the romantic loveseat, a Victorian-style two-seater wicker sofa with a lacy, almost transparent, backrest and unusual pointed, onion feet "It's a very romantic loveseat," she smiles.
The classic Philippine butaka-an elegant kamagong wood version of the traditional plantation chair (made by Kit Roxas of Tawalisi)-stands regally alone on the open air lanai amid a processional colonnade. A fine, patrician pina scarf hangs over its arm.
The other corner of the lanai is occupied by large wicker sofas, palm fronds and white muslin curtains. Grounding the space is a black Chinese wedding cabinet and an imposing central coffeetable, wrapped in fine banig or matting. Still there's room for a rustic lampshade of natural nito vine.
The lime green dining room is a romantic contemporary suite composed around two six-seater modern tables made of dark supa iron-wood, said to be three centuries old; two modern Chinoiserie lantern lamps from Italy; a French carpet; and the Victorian-style impressionist painting of "Juan Luna's wife" by young artist Mariano Cheng.
A once-nondescript corner-space was transformed into Lizzie's "sexy bordello" room. The orange sitting room is now a dramatic conversation piece, draped with layers of curtains and furnished with stuffed Victorian sofas, mixed Chinese furniture, and glowing cylindrical lanterns made from a delicately torn piece of antique damask silk.
The refreshing Asian tropical breakfast table. Gathered around a long solid wood table (from Tawalisi, Makati), eight finely finished cane armchairs with Chinoiserie flavours were designed by Yola Perez-Johnson and produced by E. Murio. Natural cane furniture balances well with the airy paminggalan, a traditional Filipino kitchen cabinet with slatted wood panels.
The owner and the designer share a love of candle-lit chandeliers, hot tropical colours and voluminous drapery. They're proud of their Moroccan-style tent, a glass-lined cabana in the garden, separated from the house and the deep blue pool. Lizzie's smart black and white curtains formerly in the lanai have been recycled as tent-style drapery-a perfect foil for the Zobels' Dalmatian.
Johnson is proudest of the orange bordello sitting room, a dramatic space draped at all doorways with shimmering abaca-rayon curtains, created by fabric designer Elisa Reyes. Inside, one wallows in stuffed sofas covered in silks, sat ins and fantasy. Warm light glows from several rectangular Chinese-inspired hanging lamps, designed around a piece of antique damask silk Lizzie Zobel brought back from her travels.
The "La Sagrada Familia" is a rare and precious religious icon, here enthroned over a Philippine divan with Napoleonic curved ends and fine bone inlay.
The guestroom's regal bedstead. The headboard is an ornate wooden panel, fully carved on a rose theme. The lush metallic-threaded curtains, held back by two pivoting bedside lamps styled by Yola Johnson, are from Silk Cocoon, Manila.
The country-elegant look reposes on Florante Aguila's spacious lanai. The contemporary wicker sofa chairs by Mehitabel of Cebu are complemented by organic accents from designer Renato Vidal of First Binhi Corp-two leafy towers and a shaggy fruit basket, large nito vine planters (left rear), and wild golden grasses on the coffeetable.
Country Elegance
Filipinos have evolved a local architectural style known as Philippine Mediterranean. Traits of the ltalianate villa-by-the-sea have migrated to the tropics Filipino architects have imported red-tile roofs, white stucco walls and spacious salas flowing out to airy lanais. Interior mezzanines overlook the sala while small balconies decorate the second floor. Below, arched doorways and warm-coloured tile floors create wide spaces for entertaining, tropical Manila style.
Florante Aguila's Mediterranean-style house in Makati is significant as the last residence designed by national artist and architect, Leandro Locsin. The cantilevered porte-cochere at the end of the long driveway gives the house a certain Locsin ambience as do the wide interior spaces adorned with giant antique furnishings from old churches and houses. The sala, dining room and TV-den are furnished with elegant wood pieces, supplied mainly by Designs Ligna Inc, a company evolving from traditional to more contemporary lines. The classic Philippine wood items are combined with a stunning array of Chinese furniture, heirlooms sourced around Asia.
The Filipino rustic style blends well with this Mediterranean-style abode when applied to the lanai. This shady veranda his open to garden views, and outfitted with the most comfortable, informal, rustic