SUBSCRIBE2 Du houses in San Nicolas, Cebu City, 2
I ventured in the old district of San Nicolas and found two ancestral houses said to be owned by the Du Family. Click the link for Part 1.
Just a block away from the other Du house is another ancestral bahay na bato, left. Bigger than the previous, the upper part might have been renovated many decades ago as can be seen in the way the wooden portion is constructed. I’m not sure, though, if which is older. But looking closer, one cannot miss the stone foundation. Where the thin cement coating has deteriorated, the same coral blocks can be seen.
One side of the house has a beautiful archway with floral patterns and corinthian columns carved from coral blocks, right. I suspect that this might have been the main portal before but may have been covered and converted into a window when the owners tore the window and widened it and parceled it to different tenants with three businesses.
Left, block of corals piled on top of the other are exposed as can be seen near one of the entrance of the house while details of the fluted corinthian column of the archway can be seen. I was able to look inside and I found one exposed haligi made from the trunk of a tree. Its ceiling is made of plywood but I think the original wide floor boards made from hardwood may have just been covered.
These two houses are rundown and have seen better times. It would be better if these are preserved and well taken cared of as these are remnants of a once rich and vibrant old part of the city. It would be a great loss if these will continue to deteriorate and a storied part of Cebu’s heritage will be gone forever.
