Balay ni Tana Dicang: Negros' Best Preserved Ancestral House

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Planning to go to Negros Island anytime soon? You must be checking where to go in Bacolod and beyond. When you think that you have enough of “The Ruins” or completed the ancestral houses in Silay, Balay ni Tana Dicang should be on your list.

Why?

First, this is the oldest surviving house in Negros, built in 1883 which is so to speak, unchanged for centuries.

Secondly, this is the main ancestral house of the Lizares family, one of the most powerful sugarlords in Negros Occidental. The Lizares family was already into sugar plantations before the influx of other planters as an effect of modernization brought by Nicholas Loney.

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Your travel writer had a chance to visit this ancestral house in Negros with the Negros Occidental Provincial Tourism working on my travel writing assignment for Mabuhay Magazine.

The Erica Alunan-Lizares house is located in Talisay City, less than 20 minutes away from Bacolod City. “Impressive” is the word that I can pin to this house. Balay ni Tana Dicang means, “House of Kapitana Dicang”, with “Dicang” as the nickname of Mrs. Lizares.

The house is well maintained, truly well-preserved for its age. There are many things to see in this house but of course, I will not spill all the beans. I will share a few just to give you glimpse on this old houses in Negros and satisfy you when you visit this ancestral house in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.

The lower level of the house that is during its earliest times is mainly for their carosa (carriage) and stocking their farm implements and supplies. Laborers are only allowed to stay in this part of the house.

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Today, it is the reception area for guests and one of its rooms also houses a gallery of local artists.

Staircase with wooden balustrade decorated with intricate carvings. If you notice those metal rods on the step, those are for the red carpet used during special occasions.

 

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The formal receiving room of Balay ni Tana Dicang. On each side are separate rooms for the girls and boys. A small suite on the right was specially built for a visiting president ( Quezon or Osmeña?).

 

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Another angle of the reception area with view of the girls’ chamber

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This is the formal dining room ( there are many dining areas in the house).

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Another angle of the formal dining area facing another area with jalousies windows, part of the renovation during the 50s.

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Tana Dicang’s chamber. Like all couples during their time, they don’t sleep in the same bed with the spouse but in the same room. Here is her poster bed with her chest ( baul).

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There are plenty of things to see in this Lizares ancestral home from their silverwares to this secret “hole” to snoop on their laborers on the lower ground of the house.

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Even its exterior is a beautiful sight.

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Kawa used in traditional way of making sugar.
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Visiting ancestral homes in Negros is one of the best things to do in Bacolod or in any part of Negros. They give vivid-like pictures of what it was like during the height of the sugar boom.

If you are interested to visit Balay ni Tana Dicang, visit their website balaytanadicang.webs.com

 

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7 Comments

  1. Unwritten rule of the owner that her descendants should take care of the house.

    I love Ilocano architecture. We saw some old houses in Sarrat that were completely not taken cared of.

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