Zarene's Travel: Las Casas Fillipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan

Architect Jose Acuzar started the Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in 2000 and was opened to the public in 2010. It was originally just a hobby of the owner to collect old houses from all over the Philippines but he decided to open it to the public. Some of the houses were already dilapidated and some parts were already found in junk shops. The pieces were transported here, restored then built again like puzzle pieces. Most of the houses still have the original parts, others only have a percentage of the entire house while some are just replicas. Each house has its own - interesting and intriguing story.

Casa Lubao - Original house from Lubao, Pampanga. The owners sponsored the education of Pres. Macapagal. This is the youngest house in the property and it has a game room at the lower floor. This became a Japanese Garrison during World War II.

Tulay Ni Lola Basyang - replica of the Jones Bridge in Manila. Lola Basyang is actually a male storyteller but wrote under the pen name of 'Lola Basyang' since children during the old times preferred to listen to the stories of their grandmothers than their grandfathers.

Under construction at the far end of the resort is the replica of the San Jose Cathedral in Balanga, Bataan.

At the back of the San Jose Cathedral, in another 'island' is the Casa Maranao from Mindanao.

Hotel de Oriente - replica of the first luxurious hotel in Binondo, Manila which became the venue of the APEC Convention in 2015. It is a convention hall, restaurant and an exhibit hall.

Casa Cagayan - from Cagayan Valley which is the home of ordinary Filipinos. It stands on stilts and usually found in the shorelines.

Casa Luna - from Luna, La Union and owned by the uncle of the Luna brothers. This is now the museum in the resort. It also has a spa at the ground floor.

Casa Jaen I - from Jaen, Nueva Ecija. White House, 1901, owner was Mayor who was ambushed.

Casa Mexico - from Mexico, Pampanga. Parts of the house were found in a junk shop and was restored using old photographs. This is now the customer service area of the resort.

Casa Jaen II - The second house in the resort from Jaen, Nueva Ecija,The owner loves to collect paintings. Since the paintings during their time were easily stolen, they painted at the back of their doors so that it will not be stolen.

Paseo de Escolta - A replica of a hotel in Escolta, Manila. It uses old and new materials to recreate a commercial building in Escolta. It has shops at the ground floor and accommodations at the second and third floor.

Casa Candaba - This is the oldest house in the resort which was built in 1961 and used by the movie Noli Me Tangere.

Casa Binondo III - or Casa Bisantina in Binondo, Manila. This is for rent at P150,000 per night. It was leased by the Instituto de Manila or University of Manila to hold its elementary and high school classes.

Casa San Miguel - from San Miguel, Bulacan. This is also for rent and it has games like billiards and mahjong

Casa Unisan - Unisan, Quezon. Owned by he Maximo's. Function hall for small meetings. With secret passage used by the owner but it was discovered by the bandits. They were locked there and massacred. The only survivor was Carmen who was still an infant and was wrapped by her nanny. She lived until old age.

Casa Quiapo - Built in 1867, became the 1st building of the UP Fine Arts. With a torohan (live sex show) and abortion clinic. But was blessed when transferred here.

Casa Baliuag I - Built in 1898 and owned by Kapitan Vergel de Dios with two wives. He is blessed with 21 children from both wives. Used by the owner of the resort as rest house.

Casa Biñan - house of the grandmother of Rizal but only the original staircase was acquired by Las Casas because people from Biñan didn't approve so thus making this the most controversial house in the resort. This is also used by the movie Heneral Luna where the scene in which he was killed was shoot at the back of the house.

There were so many houses to see, many things to do, many pictures to take but my favorite activity was just to stare at this great houses and thinking about their glorious past.