When it comes to seeing heritage homes that have maintained their old looks, a certain charm tends to wash over the mind and further pushes one back into the past. A past that was once a colorful and riveting one decorated with gorgeous neighborhoods. Eyes shun those elegant modern homes with too-sleek facades and seek the old homes that, when placed next to the houses of the modern age, are easily overshadowed by their timeless, old-world elan. What is the charm in these traditional homes? The Spanish bungalow as old as your great-great-grandparents? An airy sanctuary. The 60-year-old Victorian townhouse? A classy castle in the middle of a city. The old Spanish colonial home that’s been in the next street ever since time immemorial? A vague but powerful dream. 

Traditional homes like these tend to have floor plans that seamlessly blend together and have welcoming exteriors, too. With their unique mix of historic styles, they present classic serenity and elegance. Aside from the aesthetic points possessed by the older traditional home, they also have features that cater better towards practicality compared to a recently built modern home.

Older homes are already sturdy.

Some older houses may either have been built with timber from old-growth trees which have aged significantly without being disturbed through time and are generally more resistant to pests and rot. If the house is made of plaster and lath rather than simple drywall, it would also have better insulation and soundproofing. 

Old homes offer more space.

Since land was more affordable in the past, more old homes would have front or backyards or just enough space for an open lanai. Houses that are newly constructed may have newer amenities but this comes at the price of a spacious outer area where family and friends can have get-togethers or simply enjoy being in their own bubble with nature. 

Old homes already have so much character.

Built-ins, original crown moldings, vintage wooden doors, original sidings, and old tree planted by your parents after they had just moved in. Old homes have irreplaceable features that are better off updated rather than completely removed or replaced. 

A few great examples of traditional homes that have withstood the test of time and modernity can be seen in several local spots. One of them includes the “Shoe Capital”, Marikina City. The most well-known ones include Kapitan Moy–home of Don Laureano “Kapitan Moy” Guevara, the founder and father of Marikina’s shoe industry, the 133-year-old Zamora Ancestral House built by Domingo Zamora to be used as a military headquarters and garrison posturing as a regular house during World War II, and the traditional bahay na bato Chanyungco House built by Tomas Chanyungco and his wife Carmen Guevara.

Like the childhood memories kept locked in the deepest parts of the mind, traditional old homes like these carry pieces of the people who once lived in them and can even sometimes possess valuable information about the neighborhood that can be used as a reference for the future. Aside from aesthetic and sentimental reasons, old homes trump shiny new, modern homes in many ways that are both practical and aesthetically fulfilling. By flipping a traditional home, one could disturb the original aesthetic of the house and create a design that would no longer follow the eight key elements of aesthetics unique to that specific home.

There’s the saying that home is where the heart is. Following a traditional home’s aesthetic then means keeping its heart/soul. Even if it’s in the name of keeping up with modernity and having something new, plucking a home entirely of its soul would be such a shame. The deeper question probably now is, how much should a traditional house be transformed to adapt to a modern setting without ruining its original design?