Exclusive tour: ‘Haunted’ Laperal White House, now a restaurant dressed for Christmas
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — For almost a hundred years, the Laperal White House in 14 Leonard Wood Road, Brgy. Teacher's Camp has puzzled people — both for its beauty and its mystery.
Built in the 1930s by jewelry chain magnate Roberto Laperal, the Laperal White House was his and his wife Victorina’s vacation home, designed in Victorian style of solid yakal and narra wood. It was considered as among the best examples of American colonial architecture in the country.
A former security guard for the house claimed in a History Channel documentary that the Laperals were beheaded by Japanese invaders in the mansion so that the Japanese could take over the house, and it was their ghosts that were haunting the house.
Other reports, however, claimed that the Laperals were not at home when the Japanese confiscated the house and turned it into a garrison during World War II. A Supreme Court document showed that Roberto Laperal was tried for allegedly selling a property and conniving with the Japanese, but he was found to be innocent.
The Japanese, other former caretakers claimed in a GMA documentary, reportedly tortured suspected spies, beheaded priests and raped nuns, among other women, in the house; and the ghosts of which were allegedly the ones that haunt the house.
According to the caretakers interviewed for the GMA documentary, the specter of Roberto Laperal Jr., who inherited the house from his parents, as well as that of his wife, Purificacion Manotok Laperal, were the ones giving visitors and caretakers a fright. The couple reportedly both died in the house at separate times.
Apart from supposed apparitions of former owners, a 1996 “Magandang Gabi… Bayan” episode claimed a white lady, children and tall, black figures spooked those cleaning, visiting or watching over the house.
Through the years, the house has withstood many disasters, including the 1990 Luzon earthquake.
In 2007, Chinese-Filipino billionaire Lucio Tan bought the property, and still owns it today, Lovely Tumbaga told Philstar.com during the news site’s recent visit in the mansion.
Tumabaga manages Joseph’s, the restaurant that now leases the property from Tan. Joseph’s is owned by its eponymous founder, the older brother of ABS-CBN broadcaster Bernadette Sembrano.
According to Tumabaga, after Joseph’s wife, Chef Gemma, found success in venturing into the restaurant business via the Filipino heirloom recipes chain Concha's Garden Café, which now has several branches since it first opened in Tagaytay, including one co-owned by actor Alden Richards, the couple decided to pitch the idea of turning the Laperal White House into a high-end restaurant.
Prior to becoming a restaurant in 2022, in 2013, Tan’s Tan Yan Kee Foundation used the house into a Bamboo Foundation Museum of Filipino wooden and bamboo artworks.
Tumabaga gave Philstar.com a tour around the house and showed that the restaurant still showcases the house’s original wooden floors and intricately carved posts and ceiling. She said, since the house is made of wood, all cooking is limited to their kitchen at the basement. Although still operational, the fireplaces are also prohibited from being used.
In the “Magandang Gabi… Bayan” episode, the show’s host, “Kabayan” Noli de Castro, could be seen sitting by the lit-up fireplace at the ground floor. The episode claimed that the basement was also haunted as many were reportedly imprisoned or killed there by the Japanese. A former signage in the house revealed that the basement garage was used as an interrogation and torture chamber during World War II, with "many tortured to death."
"In 1945, Americans recaptured the property and executed remaining Japanese staff and soldiers stationed at the house," the signage added.
But according to Tumabaga, in her months of manning the restaurant, she and her colleagues have not encountered any ghosts or paranormal experiences there (yet). She admitted that many book tables at the restaurant because they were “curious,” but so far, no guests have reported any scary incident.
Tumabaga toured Philstar.com to see the rest of the house, including the staircase where the Laperals’ ghosts were reportedly seen; former bedrooms on the second floor that now provide private dining for groups of five to 10 people; and the staircase leading to the third floor, which is restricted to guests as this floor has the restaurant’s administrative offices.
The rooms, where some ghosts were also allegedly captured on-cam according to the GMA documentary, now boast of comfortable cushioned seats, old dress cabinets now holding decors and artworks, and wide windows with a lush view of the rest of Teacher’s Camp, which locals also claimed to be haunted.
None of the house’s original furniture and paintings, said Tumabaga, were retained to be part of the restaurant. Everything was furnished by the restaurant’s owners, Joseph and Gemma. Greeting guests as they enter the house is the restaurant’s centerpiece, a giant white, folded-paper-like sculpture by the couple’s friend, Jinggoy Buensuceso.
If there is one thing that the restaurant wants to preserve, it is not ghosts, but meats. Joseph’s is particularly proud of being one of the reportedly few restaurants in the country with a dry ager refrigerator for keeping the freshness of premium meats like the ribeye. It also has a wide selection of wines that pair well with the steaks.
The restaurant consulted a French chef to curate its own menu, which now includes a good variety of meat, seafood, carbohydrate, and vegetable dishes from appetizer to dessert, preluded by the restaurant’s own homemade bread and signature butter.
From when it opens at 11 a.m. until it closes at 10 p.m. every day, Joseph’s is well-lit from inside-out, making it hard to miss as one drives along Teacher’s Camp but most importantly, all those light washes off the bad vibes away! — Video by Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo; video editing by Anjilica Andaya
