The Casas on Calle Rizal – La la la Alaminos, Laguna: Part 4

* statue of a woman standing in front of a house in Rizal Street

* view of the house where the woman statue can be found; situated on the corner of Rizal Street and the Maharlika Highway

* the Fule Mansion complete with detailed decorations along the fence of the place

* one starts to figure out why it is getting hard to maintain houses made out of wood, such as this one

As with many other places in the country, the main street – most often the very one leading to the church – contains the biggest, if not the most imposing, houses. There was Calamba for instance, then San Pablo, and San Juan in Batangas, just to name a few. And to a certain extent Alaminos can be categorized along this line, as I have observed that in Rizal Street, the street that leads to the town church, many such houses (and even mansion, if we could count the Fule residence there as one) are found.

* a house which I could say is simple yet elegant

* the surrounding compliments the already serene feel of this house

* an imposing one

* one can trace the features of the upper part of this house, features that certainly were lifted from the designs of the houses during the Spanish times

Novice as I might be in technically categorizing these houses, the look of the houses themselves would give one that idea when they came to existence. They are not Spanish, those that some call Antillean ones, nor are they modern, in its present-day sense. They are more to me like immediate post-American, for they have features that can only be placed during the American times. As to the hardcore bahay na bato, I could not find one; or was it just I missed them? In any case, there were certainly traces on some of the houses that feature Spanish details, or designs for that matter. I was able to talk to some elders who told me of the events of the Second World War which included Alaminos. It could have been possible that those tumultuous times had, to some extent, caused the destruction of the houses of the Spanish times.

Lastly, there was a recent comment posted on the first part of my Alaminos series. And the comment relayed a number of details about the Fule’s of Alaminos who I have alluded to earlier. I extend my thanks to whoever shared those details. It is my hope that future readers would find that helpful as well.