A model house for a former fashion model

Good pieces of furniture are like loyal friends. Nothing and nobody can separate them from their owners. Because just like good wine, a perfectly designed and crafted wooden chair or table will gracefully age with time. This dawned on me while I was doing the shoot for this article.

From the massive stone boulders that make up the border fence and the old doors serving as main entrance, you can deduce that Vivienne Santos Canlas had Bali on her mind when she conceptualized her house. This former fashion model of mine had lived in a number of houses before this particular one. During her happily wedded life with her late husband Arthur Canlas, they changed addresses a total of seven times. So when it was time to plan and build this latest one, she knew from the onset exactly what she wanted.

Hers is a corner lot facing a broad street on one side with the other overlooking a football field teeming with tall trees. Taking advantage of her surroundings, she judiciously decided to adopt a resort approach in the design concept. Wide wooden sliding doors allow the outside gardens and vistas in. There’s a modestly sized pool positioned next to the lanai. It’s got a man-made waterfall whose revolving cascade doubles as a filtering system. The sound of the cascading water creates an exotic atmosphere and provides a calming feeling.

From the living room, lanai, and pool area enriched by lush vegetation and tropical foliage, a rare vista unfolds. Further down, in another part of the garden, a couple of old-fashioned rattan hammocks tempt onlookers to lounge while enjoying the cool breeze. There’s a set of faux rattan tables and chairs from South of the Border, where light meals can be enjoyed al fresco under the shade of a narra tree.

A compact kitchen, equipped with a whole range of cooking paraphernalia, teases the visitor to go and whip up a dish. Vivienne’s cozy kitchen is so efficiently planned. An island table, which serves as a working table, is fashioned out of a hefty chunk of old wood holding court in the middle of the room.

The squarish dining room has an entirely different story to tell. The eastern side opens to a narrow garden filled with bougainvilleas while the northern side equipped with sliding doors opens to the front garden overlooking a wide avenue. There’s a squarish table surrounded by eight chairs whose minimalist design is a clever take-off from the chairs of the Ming Dynasty era. This is arguably the most minimalist part of the house, whose only decor is a painting hanging above a console table merely holding a vase of flowers and a couple of candles.

Vivienne’s bedroom is an etude in simplicity. She simply relishes viewing the world and taking in the scenery from her bedroom. But for some privacy, the windows are veiled in flimsy lace to allow her to see translucently the world outside. The panorama unveiled from the side of her bed includes the belfry of a church standing afar. The scene would remind you of Rome if you had gone on a tour of that Holy City.

The whole length of the living room facing the football field has wide sliding doors, giving one a feel of the outdoors as he lounges comfortably. With plenty of natural light coming in, you get an unadulterated view of the rich wood used, from the wide narra floors to the planks and sliding doors.

Amid its exquisiteness, the Canlas house exudes a casual air. There’s none of the stiffness that’s a common faux pas of homeowners. For Vivienne, having attractive rooms does not mean giving up the luxury of sitting in a chair and nonchalantly putting your feet up. Clearly, the operative words here are informality and homeyness. Nothing is inside or outside the house simply for show or display. Every piece of furniture serves a purpose, chief of which is making the guests and occupants comfortable.

I’d like to point out, too, that the pieces of furniture in the entire household were retrieved from the former houses where Vivienne and her late husband Arthur had lived. Several items of furniture remind me of past eras and trends in local decorating. Yes, there are quite a number of recent finds, like the South of the Border faux rattan outdoor set. A lot of the furniture have seen better days.

But then, like old valued friends, good furniture that have been with us through thick and thin are hard to find.

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For questions or suggestions, write: xtnesp@hotmail.com..