S U N D AY : N O V E M B E R 1 , 2 0 1 5
TATUM ANCHETA EDITOR
BING PAREL A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R
BERNADETTE LUNAS WRITER
life @ thestandard.com .ph
@LIFEatStandard
S U NDAY L IF E
LIFE
C1
Villa Escudero officially opens Casa Consuelo house museum in Tiaong, Quezon. Casa Consuelo is the old Gomez house in Angeles, Pampanga which was brought—piece by piece—and reconstructed by Don Conrado Escudero’s expert artisans.
A GLIMPSE AT THE LIFE OF A ‘BUENA FAMILIA’ BY BERNADETTE LUNAS PHOTOS BY SONNY ESPIRITU
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on Conrado ‘Ado’ Escudero is known for his commitment to protect, preserve and share our country’s rich culture and history, and he proves this once again when he opened to the public the Casa Consuelo museum in Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort on October 24. Casa Consuelo is the old Gomez house owned by Don Esteban Gomez and Doña Josefa Pamintuan de Gomez of Pampanga. In the late 1800s, the Gomez house was a picture of class and opulence on Plaridel Street, Angeles City (formerly Culiat), Pampanga. It served as the residence of Don Esteban, Doña Josefa and their 11 offsprings. Following the death of its original owners, the house was passed on from one heir to another. “When Lola Sepa passed away in 1941, it was inherited by the youngest of the 11 children, Federico ‘Perico’ Gomez. Perico then sold it to another brother, Vicente, who was married to Pilar Mendez, for P40,000 in 1945. The couple converted the ground floor into a restaurant and cocktail lounge, popular among G.I.s, called Spic & Span. When Vicente and Pilar died, their children closed the restaurant and sold the house to Atty. Jose Feliciano on December 2, 1983,” narrates Capt. Ben Hur Gomez,
Displayed at the foyer are the dolls donated by Patis Pamintuan Tesoro
The Gomez clan, led by Capt. Ben Hur Gomez (third from left, back) and Juliette Gomez Romualdez (sixth from left, front), attends the house museum blessing of Casa Consuelo.
one of the great grandsons of Don Esteban and Doña Josefa, and a direct descendant of the first owners. Atty. Feliciano then offered the house to Don Ado who was at that time restoring the Pamintuan mansion, also in Angeles. “I looked at it, I fell in love and eventually convinced my older sister (Doña Consuelo or Elsie), who didn’t know what she was getting into, to purchase it in the late 1980s,” shares Don Ado. Over a hundred years and several occupants and owners later, the Gomez house finds its way – piece by piece – to Villa
Escudero in Tiaong, Quezon. Now called Casa Consuelo, the century-old structure remains elegant as ever. From being a home to the Gomez family, it is now a repository of memories and artifacts that showcase the life of a Filipino “buena familia” during the first quarter of the 20th century.
FOND MEMORIES
Capt. Gomez, who worked as a pilot for 39 years, remembers spending the weekdays in his Lola Sepa’s house with his three brothers (Carlos Jr., Romeo and Carmelo) when they were studying at the Holy Family Academy
in Angeles. “We lived in Mabalacat so every Monday morning we would go to Angeles and stay in the house until Friday afternoon,” he recalls. “I lived in that house for four years.” Juliette Gomez Romualdez, meanwhile, fondly recalls the fun games they played at the house where she and her brothers would race up and down the two grand staircases. “I was a very young girl when we used to go to that house, especially at Christmastime to celebrate with our Lola Sepa. I remember how we would enjoy the games and the lining up for the aguinaldo that we were given,” recounts Mrs. Romualdez. Continued on C4