The Quema House is the

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

of the Quema family in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Built in the 1820s, it is a historic landmark in the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Vigan Vigan, officially the City of Vigan ( ilo, Siudad ti Vigan; fil, Lungsod ng Vigan), is a 4th class component city and capital of the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 53,935 people. Loc ...

Ilocos Sur Ilocos Sur, officially the Province of Ilocos Sur ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Sur; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Sur), is a province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in Luzon. Located on the mouth of the Mestizo River is the capital o ...

in the Philippines. The town itself was declared a

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

in 1999.

History

In pre-Hispanic times up to the early 16th century, Vigan was a major commercial center in the region, trading directly with China. This commerce resulted to Chinese migration into the area with subsequent intermarriage between the native inhabitants and the Chinese immigrants. During the Spanish colonial period (1521-1898), Vigan became an important supplier of goods for the

Manila-Acapulco galleon trade fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain (Spanish Empire ...

, which led to the rise of a new merchant class whose members are of mixed Chinese, native and Spanish ancestry - the ''

Filipino mestizo In the Philippines, Filipino Mestizo ( es, mestizo (masculine) / mestiza (feminine); Filipino/ tl, Mestiso (masculine) / Mestisa (feminine)) or colloquially ''Tisoy'', is a name used to refer to people of mixed native Filipino and any forei ...

s''. With their increasing affluence, they built their residential houses (''bahay-na-bato'') in the eastern district of the town, previously the ''Kasanglayan'' or old Chinese quarters.UNESCO World Heritage Centre (1998)
"The Historic Town of Vigan, No 502rev. 30"
UNESCO.org. It is here that Chinese trader Don Enrique Quema built his ancestral house in the early 19th century.

Style

The Quema House portrays the design of a typical

Bahay na Bato ''Bahay na bato'' (Tagalog, literally "house of stone", also known in Visayan as ''balay na bato'' or ''balay nga bato; in Spanish as Casa Filipino'') is a type of building originating during the Philippines' Spanish colonial period. It is an ...

(literally, "house of stone") popular among the ''mestizo'' class. The roof has a steep pitch suggestive of traditional

Chinese architecture Chinese architecture ( Chinese:中國建築) is the embodiment of an architectural style that has developed over millennia in China and it has influenced architecture throughout Eastern Asia. Since its emergence during the early ancient era, ...

. The ground floor was used as storage and as a garage for

horse-drawn carriage A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...

s, while the living quarters were housed in the upper floor. The exterior walls of the upper storey are enclosed by wood-framed, sliding window panels of ''kapis'' shells (''

Placuna placenta The windowpane oyster (''Placuna placenta'') is a bivalve marine mollusk in the family of Placunidae. They are edible, but valued more for their shells (and the rather small pearls). The shells have been used for thousands of years as a glass su ...

'', a thin-shelled oyster). All throughout the living quarters are wide plank

hardwood floor Wood flooring is any product manufactured from timber that is designed for use as flooring, either structural or aesthetic. Wood is a common choice as a flooring material and can come in various styles, colors, cuts, and species. Bamboo floorin ...

Philippine Nationality Room

In 2009, the Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh (FAAP) chose the Quema House as the model for the design of a Philippine Nationality Room (PNR) at the Cathedral of Learning in the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

(Pennsylvania, USA). The house was adjudged as most representative of 18th-century architecture unique to the Philippines, a requirement for a Nationality Room. As of 2021, there are 31 Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning, all representing 18th-century architecture of different countries.(2010-11-23)
"The Nationality Rooms Program"
University of Pittsburgh. The Philippine Nationality Room functions as a regular classroom for Humanities classes. The room was constructed in early 2019 and dedicated on June 9, 2019.

The house today

The Quema House today is still owned and maintained by the Quema family. Private tours are usually arranged upon request.

Gallery

File:Quema House Main living.jpg, Sala de estar or living area File:Quema house living room.jpg, Secondary living area File:Quema house dining room.jpg, Comedor or dining area File:Balustrade.jpg, Grand balustrade File:Quema House Dormitorio.jpg, Dormitorio or bedroom

References

{{Coord missing, Philippines Heritage Houses in the Philippines Historic house museums in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Vigan