The Mansion House (also known as The Mansion) is the official summer palace of the

President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of ...

. The mansion is located in the

summer capital A summer capital is a city used as an administrative capital during extended periods of particularly hot summer weather. The term is mostly of relevance in historical contexts of political systems with ruling classes that would migrate to a summe ...

of the country,

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

, situated around asl in the Cordillera Central Range of northern

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

History

Philippine Island - Baguio - NARA - 68155840

The Mansion House was built in 1908 to serve as the official summer residence of American Governors-General at the insistence of Governor-General

William Cameron Forbes William Cameron Forbes (May 21, 1870 – December 24, 1959) was an American investment banker and diplomat. He served as governor-general of the Philippines from 1909 to 1913 and ambassador of the United States to Japan from 1930 to 1932. He was ...

. The name is derived from the summer cottage in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

of Governor Forbes whose administration the original Mansion House was built under. Architect

William E. Parsons William Edward Parsons (June 19, 1872 - December 17, 1939) was an architect and city planner known for his works in the Philippines during the early period of American colonization in the country. As the consulting architect to the Philippine g ...

, based on preliminary plans by architect

Daniel H. Burnham Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the '' Beaux-Arts'' movement, he may have been, "the most successful power broker the American architectural profession has ...

, the planner of the city of Baguio, designed the mountain retreat following the tenets of the

City Beautiful Movement The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...

.Galang, Willie (2010-01-23)
"Mansion House (NHI Marker)"
Flickr.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-21. In 1910, the meeting of the Second Philippine Legislature was held at the Mansion House for three weeks. With the inauguration of the

Philippine Commonwealth The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...

, the Mansion along with Malacañan Palace was turned over to the Philippine President. The

High Commissioner to the Philippines The high commissioner to the Philippines was the personal representative of the president of the United States to the Commonwealth of the Philippines during the period 1935–1946. The office was created by the Tydings–McDuffie Act of ...

, successor to the Governor-General as the highest American official in the Philippines and representative of the United States Government, then built The American Residence, completed in 1940. The house was badly damaged during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and was rebuilt in 1947. Since then, it has served as the holiday home and working office for each President during visits to Baguio. The Mansion House was also used as the venue of important events, such as the second session of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) in 1947, the second session of the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

in 1948, and the first meeting of the Southeast Asian Union (SEAU), more commonly known as the Baguio Conference of 1950, which was conceived and convened by President

Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (born Elpidio Quirino y Rivera; ; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the sixth president of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino ente ...

. More recently, the Mansion House has been the site of a number of international conferences. On January 21, 1994, communist rebel

Conrado Balweg Conrado Balweg was a former Filipino Catholic priest and rebel who was the founder of the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army, a militant group which advocated autonomy for the Cordillera region in the Philippines. He was also known by the ''n ...

and his followers who had been using the mansion's guest house as their headquarters since 1986 were ejected from it by policemen without violence.

Description

The Mansion consists of an elegantly designed

Spanish Colonial Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...

main building and a guesthouse. The elaborate main gate, made of ornate ironwork, was once thought to be a replica of a main gate of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, but this is false. The front gate is still one of the most photographed sections of the complex. The public may visit the inside of the Mansion House, which contains a museum featuring presidential memorabilia. Across the road from the Mansion House is Wright Park, a quiet promenade with a long reflecting pool lined with pine trees. A long stairway leads visitors to the back, where ponies for children are available for hire.jeromelocson (2011-04-10)
"Wright Park, Baguio City"
Flickr.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-21. Dotted all around the nearby hills are private holiday homes and small inns.

Gallery

File:The_Mansion_Baguio.jpg, The Mansion House in 2010 File:04 16 2006 The Mansion Baguio City (5).jpg, The gate

References

External links

Presidential Museum and Library: Mansion House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansion, Baguio, The Official residences in the Philippines Buildings and structures completed in 1908 Buildings and structures in Baguio Tourist attractions in Baguio 1908 establishments in the Philippines Presidential residences in the Philippines

History

Description

Gallery

See also

References

External links