Home is where the art is

My friend, jetsetter fashionista Kitty Go, once called the New Manila aerie of Cess and Fe Rodriguez (the innovative couple behind fast-food phenomenon Burger Machine), "the most beautiful house I have ever seen." Now that’s a rather extreme superlative but not altogether undeserved. The Rodriguez residence is the fruit of avid antique searches, disciplined but spirited decoration and a lifelong devotion to collecting art. It would be no exaggeration to say that the house is as integral to the family’s life as one of its very own members.

I will always remember the flurry of activity before one of the famed Rodriguez dinners. Cess was carefully wiping the windows with a rag, Fe was studiously arranging her jars and Junie, their eldest son and all around aesthetic authority (he functions as architect/interior designer and landscape collaborator on all their properties, business and personal), was nervously placing floral arrangements. It hit me right there and then that it takes so much more than just good taste to make a house beautiful–it also takes a lot of love.

As Junie is my neighbor and one of my dearest friends, I have seen the house in its many incarnations. There was Fe’s glorious Chinois birthday party, with authentic Chinese lanterns and papers that were integrated into the floral décor and table settings. For that party, Junie trekked to Chinatown for props, guided by a friend who was born and bred in Binondo. With our friend Anton Barretto, we raided the warehouse of a top grower of cut flowers where we discovered hyacinths, roses and carnations in unimaginable colors and yes, tropical tulips. There was also the day we turned the house into a setting for a fashion editorial: a May-December affair played out by ageless Annette Coronel and then newcomer Rico Yan. We turned every corner of the house into a romantic rendezvous. There have also been more private occasions: sharing champagne and chocolate to celebrate my third anniversary as a magazine editor; marathon brainstorming sessions; weekly mah-jongg nights with a most enigmatic intellectual pin-up. And whether it is a chichi party or a night of hardcore work, the house always rises to the occasion.

Past Lives

Coco Chanel once said that a well-dressed woman could walk in the street without causing any stir, but she would create a ripple of amazement when she entered a drawing room of people in the know.

The same can be said of a stylish house. To the uninitiated, there is an artlessness to the way Junie has put together their home. The palette is basically neutral with strategic touches of color; there are gorgeous antiques, simple upholstered furniture and exquisite art in every corner. But there is a very deliberate method at work.

A key component of that method is constant evolution. From the time the house was built, it has been in a state of flux. Fe says, "There are some women, they never change their hairdos or their clothes and they do the same with their houses." That is certainly not the case with Fe, or her house for that matter. But Junie is careful to point out, "While it is good to evolve, you must not do something just because it’s uso. Then the house dates right away."

A narration of the house’s different phases becomes a quick study in the history of modern interior decoration in the Philippines. In the late ’70s, when the family first moved into the house, Junie remembers, "A horror ’70s house. Cottage cheese walls and ceilings. Mostly white on white, which was a maintenance nightmare. There were white velour seats and mirrored cube tables where my mom arranged her jars. There was one saving grace: the salvaged flooring from an old house, which I still think is the house’s best feature. My mom bought it as one lot, along with the banister. They are planks from several woods: narra, molave, ipil, tangile and yakal."

In the early ’80s, interior decorator Anton Rodriguez Mendoza, first cousin of Cess, began to help Fe with her antique collecting and eventually, he was tasked with doing a major renovation. "Everything was beige with lot of black accents, which Tito Anton still does to this day, so he has really remained true to his aesthetic," reminisces Junie. "I remember going to Rustan’s because that was the only place to get good fabrics. I particularly remember this black fabric, with a finish that mimicked lacquer, that had cherry blossoms pattern in gold." The furniture was "very Donghia, very Kalef Alaton," which meant voluptuous but still geometric.

Anton Mendoza also injected more Chinese antiques such as a Buddhist bible and Buddhist lamps, more Chinese furniture and to add to the Asian feel, natural fiber shades and bamboo trees. Junie compares, "There was a lot of dramatic flourish, as a contrast to the disciplined geometry of the’70s phase."

In the mid ’80s, the era of Mario Buatta and Ralph Lauren, there was a move away from Orientalia. "Welcome chintz and tapestry pillows," is how Junie puts it. Although at this point, the house also underwent some architectural changes. Fe asked her niece, architect and now editor in chief of BluPrint magazine Tina Bonoan to reconfigure the house. Tina opened up some walls to create a sun room and did away with the aluminum screen doors to make wooden sliding doors.

In 1995, Junie had come home from the Otis School in Los Angeles where he had studied Environmental Design. Coincidentally or not, a car rammed into the house’s front door, which of course, made another renovation necessary. Junie says, "So my parents became my first clients, an old tradition in the practice of architecture. School changed me a lot, in that I became more concerned with architecture versus decoration. (I became more aware of) Integrity of material, purity of form, manipulation of light, color theory and making timpla the color of a room, how light plays on color."

Junie is the archenemy of the one-liner. He believes in complexity with context, not just to make decorative gestures but to add texture, warmth and character. His ultimate goal: timelessenss.

Junie changed the ceilings, the color of the walls, the windows. For the foyer, in keeping with the varying hues of his mom’s antique floor, he created a Mondrian-like grid of marble, wood and metal. For the ceilings, he continued the grid theme, creating a series of geometric shapes, framed by multi-levered molding in shades of gray. When the renovation was done, Junie confessed to me that he was most gratified when people commented on the ceiling. He says, "Its classic form follows function. I wanted to express the joinery where each plywood meets, as well as create a ceiling that would echo the geometry of the house."

Life Style

But as the house went through all its different phases, the constants were the continuous collection of art and antiques. At first, the collecting was a conspiracy between mother and son. "When I bought expensive things, I wouldn’t tell (my husband) because he might say, ‘Ano na naman yang binibili mo?’"

"I remember my mom showing me her jars and saying, ‘Kung may mangyari sa akin, tell your dad that these pieces are precious and he can sell them for a good price," Junie reveals. But after a while, Cess became just as involved in the process. Fe reasons out, "He got to see for himself how nice the house became and that art is a good investment." Junie adds, "I think that when you begin to live in a considered environment, you see the benefits."

There is a definite tension in their approach to art. Fe is instinctive. "I don’t know what it is, I just feel something, I know what I like." Junie is analytical. "I look for texture. Whether it is the subject matter or the materiality, if the painting is too flat, I don’t like it." And Cess is sentimental. "My dad will buy a painting because it was made the year he was born, or it depicts a scene in a place that has some meaning for him." These divergent views and the mutual respect among them have resulted in a collection that is comprehensive and personal at the same time.

The family’s love for travel also informs the house’s evolution. A trip to Pearl Farm inspired Junie to build a pool house that is pan-Asian, inspired by the traditional thatch roofing of Filipino houses but decorated with all the glamour of a classic Hollywood idea of a vacation home. A visit to Hong Kong’s China Club brought on a jewel-toned palette of throw pillows.

And within each phase, there is continuous tweaking and refining. It is not unusual for Junie to call me at midnight to say, "I’ve rearranged the furniture and I need a critique. Can you come over?" In 1998, Junie was moved to create a "Centennial Wall" – a grouping of paintings that represented each period covered by their collection.

Living with art and antiques can be intimidating, but there is no danger of that in the Rodriguez home. Junie says, "Though they are precious things, they are deployed in a casual manner that is completely in keeping with our casual lifestyle." How does he do it? Well, first of all, the layout of the home is free-flowing. The living room and the dining area are in one big space, much like a modern flat. The arrangement of the furniture is just as open, such that though a big group could all fit in the main living area, a smaller group would not feel overwhelmed, as there is a balanced distribution of furniture.

Secondly, Junie doesn’t use provenance or periods to guide him in his placing of objects. He takes each piece for what it is, and combines objects with complementary colors, textures, or proportions to create a seamless whole. Thus, a puffer fish that was a gift from a friend who dives is juxtaposed with pre-Hispanic Filipino jars and Thai Buddhas, as they all have a textured neutrality. A Tibetan tanka (a sacred wall hanging) is positioned with a vintage European reproduction side table and a completely contemporary ice bucket overflowing with tropical plants, as they all share a deep rich coloration. Outdoor wrought iron Arte Español chairs are mixed with Filipino colonial carved chairs–staples in most Pinoy homes that are put together in a most individual way. To break up the stark geometry of his ceiling, he hung an ornate glass Venetian chandelier. I remember telling him, "That’s so off." And he said proudly, "That’s the whole point."

Life Goes On

For the Rodriguez family, the building and making of a home is not just a cold aesthetic pursuit. They are always inviting friends and family to be part of their home. And when they do, just as much thought goes into the presentation of the food, as the house. Junie likes to concoct his own recipes to give his guests a truly unique dining experience. They don’t save their good things for formal events. Every time he serves tea, he uses lovely teapots and mismatched cups.

Building homes is a true passion. When the work on their New Manila house finally ended, with pool house and all built in time for his sister’s despedida de soltera, they started work on an apartment in Tagaytay Highlands and the renovation of a beach house in Matabungkay. Junie is now starting to design the family’s new home at Essensa in Fort Bonifacio Global City. He is also working on a church in Lian, Batangas, his father’s donation to the community near their beach house. A landscape architect once compared Cess to an Egyptian pharaoh, so consuming is his passion for building. I couldn’t agree more.

In the forward to the book, The Private House, Paul Goldberger writes of Rose Tarlow, decorator to Hollywood mogul David Geffen and proprietor of the West Coast’s premier antique store Melrose House: "I don’t know how to explain Rose’s rooms except to say that they are right. They balance sensual pleasures with geometric rigor, and every one of them is simultaneously a lesson in design and a lesson in living...(the) rooms are like no other, and they are marked by a natural grace." I dare say that the same could be said of the Rodriguez house. And we who are privileged enough to be part of their special world are truly, deeply blessed.