While more young professionals flock to the city for better opportunities and the fast and lustrous lifestyle, some young families are moving out for a slower and much more relaxed pace. After all, developments are starting to push out of the big metro and into smaller growing provinces. You get the same city comforts minus the heavy traffic so you can have more time for one’s family. Not to mention how lot prices and properties will be cheaper than in the prime lots inside main Manila.
Meet Mr. and Mrs. Manalo, a couple slash start-up family with their three year old daughter Bella. The couple purchased a corner lot in a subdivision in Pampanga. They consulted architect Jerwin Garcia to make their first home. They met through Jerwin’s wife Lovelyn who is a work colleague of Mr. Manalo.
After the architect drafted the two-floor plan for the 120-something square lot, the couple realized that having a two-storey home was not for them. “We lived in a two-storey apartment when we were in the city but we would always fight on who would get the water from the kitchen on the first floor,” shares Mr. Manalo. And since the couple is planning another addition to their family, the man of the house didn’t want his wife to climb up and down stairs during the pregnancy. So instead of building the house vertically on one lot, Mr. and Mrs. Manalo purchased two adjacent lots and asked Jerwin to create a bungalow house instead.
“They wanted a bungalow with a hotel-feel that’s within a budget,” the architect explains when asked about the main brief. With the young family often heading to hotels for staycations, they wanted a space that was inspired by some of Manila’s best hotels so they can have their personal staycation every time they come home. “I asked Jerwin to play with wood, white or off white, black and gray. Ayoko na magintroduce ng ibang colors para hindi naman siya mukhang chopsey,” shares Mr. Manalo. The architect shares that the bungalow house took six months to make and everything was smooth sailing.
“I believe you can build a house na maganda tignan and maayos pero pasok pa din sa budget. That’s what I wanted and nagawa naman ni Jerwin,” smiles Mr. Manalo. Upon entry, one is greeted with dining, living, and kitchen area. Enclosed in their own rooms are Bella’s room and the master’s with it’s own entertainment room, walk-in closet, and bathroom. The design is kept effortless and inviting, nothing too extravagant and over the top for this simple family.
Mrs. Manalo used to complain with her husband’s love affair with shoes, which is lavishly displayed inside the mancave of the house. She shares that he would often come home with a new pair of shoes. However after the construction of the bungalow house, her husband’s shopaholic tendencies leaned away from the shoe stores an into the home stores. “Puro gamit pangbahay na ung bibibili niya,” laughs Mrs. Manalo on her husband.
This story first appeared on MyHome magazine August 2017, edits have been made for MyHome.OneMega.com.
