Amongst the Heights: The Houses and Mansions of Nagcarlan, Laguna

* an old house, still intact

* a house labeled Elyon Academia

* one resilient house

* reminds me of the house within the compound of Casa Segunda

* more or less like the previous one

* notice those transparent spheres by the windows, it is an ornament(?) common to some of the houses there; I wonder what they are called and what they are specifically for

* three-floored mansion-like house

* talk of seeing a really big house

* the Rizal Standard Academy, founded in 1939; but its past can only be glimpsed through the other half of the school’s façade

* now this is one fairly preserved house

* the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, the parish of Saint Bartholomew

* the defunct El Dorado Theatre

There is essentially no limit as to how a house can be termed beautiful. Any thing that is old seems to me a beauty and treasure already. But regarding the houses of Nagcarlang, placing them according to the periods when they have probably been made serves as a key towards appreciating them more and the era that influenced them.

It seems that the Spanish era as well as the American period has made their respective marks on the town, especially on the way houses were designed. Typical motifs of the old houses of the Spanish period are easily identifiable. Moreover, the general style of being half-concrete, half-wooden is also still observable.

The seeming mansion-type houses are still seen on the town’s streets, most likely brought by the American period. Some are solid two stories while others are three-floored. But almost all of them have this feature of having a balcony, complete with intricate details that are in the realms of architecture. But then, these mansion-like houses are curiously narrow-spaced. One cannot help but consider the thought that there was already an emerging problem of overpopulation in the town proper. In any case they are quite unique and serve as a trademark for the town.

With regards to some other points of interest, there is the food in a barangay called Sinipian, their Kalang Festival in October, and the Bunga Falls.