Edgy designer goes minimalist

One would expect the house of Cecile Zamora van Straten to be as borloloy-bedecked as her designs. The fashion designer, who altered the landscape of Philippine fashion with her street and pop culture-inspired pieces, is responsible for introducing Manila, particularly the club-going scene, to plaid Japanese school girl skirts, go-go boots, fur-trimmed jackets, printed pleather, and T—shirts flaunting the face of Nora Aunor. Thinking that her house would be as colorful and as playful as her designs wouldn’t be completely inappropriate.

The process which goes into creating a house is a lot different than making a funky pop-inspired clothing collection.

"I only know how to make clothes. I don’t know how to make a house," declares Cecile. She and her chef husband Jeroen van Straten entrusted the architectural design to the expert. Ed Calma took on the project, basically with Cecile’s nod to do as he wished.

The house took almost two years to complete (six months to plan, a year and a half to build). It is signature Calma: a minimalist blend of huge white walls, high ceilings, wood—framed picture windows, which allow passersby to catch a glimpse of the second floor dining room, and imposing wooden doors that all enclose breadths of space. The house, clearly inspired by the Eastern aesthetic, stands on clean, straight lines and rectangular structures, and is easily the highest house on the street.

Cecile insists that the Ed Calma creation actually does reflect her aesthetic. Contrary to popular opinion that she likes starker colors such as red, black, and white, she favors the more muted beige and brown. This preference can be seen in the furniture she and Jeroen chose. Mostly in bleached or brown wood and upholstered in white, the furnishings are as straight and as simple as the house itself. Furniture is sparse within the spacious rooms and, even after a year of the house’s completion, the couple is still in the midst of completing the interior design.

The main part of the house is on the second floor. A high cemented staircase at the side of the house leads to main entrance which opens up to the very spacious living room and dining room. The living room’s main attractions are the Rietveld chairs from the Netherlands given by Cecile’s father—in—law. The chairs, one in bleached wood and one colorfully painted, are made of thin wooden slats put together to form low, angular recliners. The living room continues into the dining room where two rectangular brown tables are each flanked by rectangular benches on both sides.

As a chef, Jeroen wanted to entertain and cook for friends in his own home so they had the dining set custom-made to fit more than the requisite six to eight people. To the side of the dining area is the kitchen. No wall or door partitions the kitchen from the rest of the house, allowing Jeroen to entertain guests from the stove. Even the kitchen is consistent with the rest of the house. White, beige, and wooden tones are only broken by the stainless steel of the refrigerator, stove, and exhaust hood.

Glass encloses each side of this part of the house: a floor—to—ceiling window in the dining room end and wide sliding glass doors on the living room end. These glass doors face another glass expanse: the window looking into (or out of, depending on where you are) the master’s bedroom. Just like the rest of the house, Cecile and Jeroen’s room is done in all—white and wood.

In between the living room and master’s bedroom is the courtyard, both Cecile and Jeroen’s favorite part of the house. The breezy open area is engulfed by a huge garden set done in wood and white canvas.

Décor is minimal in the van Straten household and few accents present display Jeroen’s Dutch lineage. Paintings made by contemporary Dutch impressionists such as Marcel Schellekens and Herman Brood bring splashes of color to the all—white walls. A painted high chair, also from the Netherlands, seats Markus, the couple’s one—year-old son and serves a decorative purpose as well.

The lower floor, accessible through more wide wooden doors and cement stairways, houses the guest bedroom, the kids’ playroom, and Cecile’s intended workroom. Sometime in late August, she breaks out of her designing hiatus to open up another boutique called A Store for All Seasons with another designer friend. To be located along Shaw Boulevard, the store will showcase the designs of young designers.

Topping off the entire solid structure is an extensive roof deck. With the space gray and bare, Cecile and Jeroen plan to put in a jacuzzi one of these days. For the moment, it is big enough to hold parties or, as Cecile laughingly considers, to stage a fashion show in.

Cecile never really knew how she wanted her house to look. She partners a shrug with a smile when asked how she envisioned it pre-construction. "I just left it all up to Ed. There’d be times when I wouldn’t agree with the ideas for the house and we’d compromise, but most of the time he was right." She had no clue, really. She never pretended to know any better. But by the looks of it, Cecile got exactly what she wanted.