Most of the furniture and accessories in the living room have been in the house since it was built in 1883. (Photo by BIBSY M. CARBALLO)

One of the oldest houses in Talisay City in Negros Occidental is now a museum with an art gallery. It’s called Balay ni Tana Dicang and the name originates from the nickname of the original lady of the house, Enrica Alunan. It was her husband Efigenio Lizares who built the place in 1883. Today, it is managed and maintained by their great grandson, Adrian Lizares.

Adrian, or Adjie to his friends and family, is a modern day bon vivant. We met him in Bacolod last month when he opened an exhibit at the Balay’s Capitana Gallery, or C Gallery. The latter’s in-house curator is Albert Avellana, who also happens to be Adjie’s business partner.

The C Gallery is located in the former commissary for storage of farm produce. It’s constructed in a floating wall system, painted in white with spot lighting, which imparts a decidedly contemporary look. It is a stroke of genius to situate a modern day art gallery within a 126 year-old mansion. It immediately puts things into perspective. Apart from the C Gallery, the zaguan on the ground floor has been host to choral concerts, fund-raisers, and important events such as the Dangal ng Lahi tribute to National Artists. The Museum Shop and a garden party venue will soon open.     

Balay ni Tana Dicang, an authentic bahay-na-bato-at-kahoy, stands on a 6,000 square meter lot on Rizal Street. Its proximity to Bacolod (an hour’s drive away) makes it accessible to students going on field trips and tourists. It has 18 rooms, mostly bedrooms, as the owners Efigenio and Dicang had 17 children. In one of his reports, Adjie described the house as “constructed of exotic hardwoods, lifted from the ground and poised on timber stilts, much like the vernacular bahay kubo.”  It is wrapped entirely on the ground floor by a wall of stone over a meter thick. The house is embellished on the exterior by coquina (building material of crushed shells and corals) and brick. The coquina is carved into moldings and beveled panels. The wood is carved with botanical forms, all bearing distinct Filipino marks.

The house is well-preserved, considering the fact that it has been 17 years since it was last lived in. It was Adjie’s cousin Girlie Lizares-Bagtas, who last lived there. As everyone knows, neglect is a bane to preservation. A house has to be lived in just as a piano has to be played to keep it in running condition.

When Adjie took over the house in 2002 and repairs are constantly attended to. “We need to stabilize the Balay’s wooden framework so wehave is a full-time carpenter in the staff. We also employ eight full-time staff plus a retinue of contractors. It all depends on the need of the moment,” he says.

While working on the house, Adjie discovered several heirlooms, including an original casein milk binder in shades of blue. It was found under several layers of paint. Old coins melted and made into dining utensils bear the initials of the house residents. China, clothes, journals and even recipes have survived war and natural calamities.

“There is a ledger of Tana Dicang from 1903 to 1909 that we keep like a piece of treasure,” continues Adjie. “We also have her last will and testament. The original vestments of the Magdalena resurfaced after we thought it lost. These have the original gold thread and heavy embroidery that was the fashion for liturgical vestments in the 1920s.”

The partitions of the interior are of Filipino hardwood like molave, balayong and narra. Venetian style window shutters let the air in, and Persian style capiz windows keep the rain out. Classical embellishments are found in moldings and cornices. There are four rose windows in the living room and pierced woodwork in the grand staircase.

With its architectural legacy intact, the house is as much a tribute to the matriarch who lived there. Married in 1872, the Lizares-Alunan couple were simple, no-nonsense people. They originally lived in a modest-sized house near the sugar plantation as they were attached to the land. Their lifestyle has been described as almost austere, bereft of frivolity even if they grew increasingly affluent through the years.

Tana Dicang was said to be very industrious. She was an expert farm manager and she personally inspected and supervised the family businesses. She also invested in and managed sugar centrals in Talisay and Bacolod.

She engaged in many other businesses and enjoyed her position and power in society to the hilt. Yet she never ventured outside the island of Negros. Such was her devotion to the province.

In her final will and testament, she bequeathed the Balay to six of her eight daughters with the specification that its maintenance be supported out of 10 percent of the income of her two sugar haciendas.

Email the author at bibsycarballo@yahoo.com.