What makes a modern Filipino home?

The modern Filipino home is one that has the elegance of Filipino architecture and the comfort of living intimately.

"It is Filipino if the morning sunlight touches the home’s interior space and the afternoon breeze blows softly against the cheek of a sleeping child in her second-floor bedroom. It is Filipino if the family lives in an intimate environment transformed into an engaging personal space for each member," says space planner Chiqui Tronco.

Such intimate personal space for each member of the Filipino family exists at Verdant Heights, an upper-middle-class residential project within the Multinational Village in Parañaque City developed by One Asia Development Corp.

Verdant Heights, in response to the growing need for stylish homes yet affordable among urban dwellers, offers Senna townhouses. The design of townhouse model unit, Senna follows the basic principle of Filipino architecture typified by natural ventilation and day lighting streaming into open interior spaces.

Tronco, who heads the planning and design group of One Asia, says that designing interiors for small spaces is both challenging and rewarding. The challenge lies in transforming the non-descript floor area into an engaging and livable personal space for its users. Inside the Senna unit, she says, shines the vivid color of furniture and wood works that provide a contrast to the light colored interiors, resulting in an illusion of fluid space from living and dining to kitchen.

In the living area are hinabi blinds that allow natural lighting and ventilation to dictate an upbeat mood. Beautiful in its simplicity, the living area glows at night with modern but classic lighting fixtures. Contemporary furniture by Padua International, one of the country’s renowned high-end furniture makers, makes the space alive.

At the dining area is the mahogany dining table with frosted glass top and woven abaca rope wood legs seats with modern lamp which brings warmth and class to dining. The playful combination of high and low-backed chairs with abaca rope backrest, cushioned seat upholstered in black leather and mahogany wood leg support are design worthy. The kitchen is both compact and efficient reminiscent of condo living.

At the second floor are two rooms including the girl’s bedroom. Inside the master bedroom, the rich tones of mahogany offer a fitting retreat at the end of the day. The queen size bed with hand carved headboard and the matching end table showcase Padua’s artistry and workmanship. The vanity table and low-back cushioned seat charms the lady of the house. The girl’s bedroom is youthful and imaginative in its use of the harmonizing shades of beige, yellow and white. The study table is avant-garde in its combination of bamboo top and stainless steel support.

Throughout the house, wood is the unifying element. Simplicity is its pervading theme. Surely, Senna awaits endless possibilities of color and accents.

Tronco says, Senna typifies the modern Filipino home. However, she quickly adds that a home is not Filipino, without a Filipino family living in it. She says more than 50 percent of the 146 Senna units have already been sold to Filipino families.

Verdant Heights offers other stylish, yet highly functional house models that caters to a mix of middle and upscale markets. These include the single-detached Cedar Home, the single-detached Cypress model, the single-attached Mulberry, and Gardenia townhouses.

The project’s location is just minutes away from major shopping centers such as SM Sucat, SM Bicutan, Puregold, Uniwide Sales and Duty-Free and the soon to open Mall of Asia.

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One Asia Development Corp. tel. nos. 687-3704 or 687-3706.