Hacienda Escudero: Charming plantation living

MANILA, Philippines - Southern Tagalog is known for its colorful fiestas, such as pahiyas ng Lucban, and the people’s over-whelming hospitality and natural beauty.

It retains the best of what the region has to offer — old-world style and graciousness, two mighty attributes that are more appreciated and needed than ever at a time there is a dearth of these values in the modern world.

The region’s sense of history and respect for tradition have led to a relaxed attitude toward the use and display of available resources, leading them to live with the things that make them comfortable and secure.

Today, the new south attracts future homeowners driven by the bucolic, idyllic setting with a good network of roads being built to make it more accessible. These homes can be not just a weekend getaway but a permanent residence. Thanks to the planned 54-km. extension of South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) from Calamba to Lucena City to sustain economic activity in the Calabarzon region, travel time from Manila will greatly improve, paired with the opening of Skyway phase 2, which will be operational by next year, the charm of southern living is now more probable than just possible.

When the heirs of Don Placido Escudero opened Villa Escudero in Tiaong, Quezon, in 1981, the resort south of Manila instantly became a prime tourist destination for locals, overseas Filipinos, and a wide array of foreign visitors. Only two and a half hours away from Manila, it gained worldwide reputation as a showcase of the Philippines’ rich cultural heritage, offering a glimpse of southern Tagalog history, cuisine, dress, customs and natural beauty.

A self-contained working coconut plantation, it was founded in the 1880s by Don Placido and his wife Doña Claudia Marasigan. Originally planted to sugarcane, the crop was converted to coconut by their son Don Arsenio Escudero in the early 1900s. A pioneering agro-industrialist, he built the country’s first working hydroelectric plant to supply his dessicated coconut business, and Villa Escudero, the plantation home Don Arsenio built for his wife Doña Rosario in 1929.

The Escudero family and Landco, developer of premier getaways such as Peninsula de Punta Fuego, are jointly developing 415 hectares of coconut plantation land into a residential resort community that takes after the resort’s old-world southern charm. In the burgeoning days of the 1930s Philippine Commonwealth-era, the plantation was recognized as probably the most progressive coconut plantation in the country, making the Philippines a major copra-producing country.

The main clubhouse of Hacienda Escudero itself is actually a living testament to the topography of the area. The roof is made of shingles that resemble coconut husks and alcove ventilation windows serve as spires to let the cool Mt. Banahaw breeze circulate inside the cavernous ceiling. Big windows with playful patterns resembling anahaw leaves facing the covered portico give a sweeping vista of the pool and the foliage that envelopes the clubhouse.

Hacienda Escudero is master-planned as a community that brings back traditional neighborhood values, encouraging homeowners to do away with gates and instead to have porches facing the street to give them opportunities to know their neighbors. If their porches lead to the streets, the back doors are facing the lake where they can get around by water or source the fish to be served for meals.

Choice lots will have their own access to the network of lakes; construction of moorings within lakeside lots for privately owned boats is then a value-added feature. The Hacienda Escudero development takes after the Escuderos’ vision and Don Placido’s legacy, a modern-day take on eco-tourism matched with wellness. Once completed, it will have hotels, spas and medical wellness facilities, retail and leisure amenities that include a golf course, water park and botanical gardens winding throughout the development.

Very 21st-century Filipino in attitude, the new homes will be designed in a style that is both contemporary Filipino and Asian tropical. Hacienda Escudero architecture will also be based on surviving plantation houses from the 1930s Commonwealth-era that are typical to the San Pablo/Tiaong area. Inspired by the vibrant spectrum and everything that is truly Filipino, Hacienda Escudero is a place you will definitely want to call home.

Landco is celebrating its 20th year as the premier developer of Hacienda Escudero, Ponderosa, Leisure Farms, Playa Calatagan, Playa Laiya, and Peninsula de Punta Fuego.

For details, call 836-5000 or visit www.landco.ph.