By DENNIS LADAW
The driveway is lined with majestic Royal Palm trees. (Photo by PRANZ KAENO BILLONES)
The house is located in an affluent neighborhood in Iloilo City, but it could look right at home in any of the ritzy enclaves of Beverly Hills, California. In particular, the Beverly Hills of yore, when legendary screen stars like Rudolf Valentino and Gloria Swanson were on the Hollywood A-list. This was a time when stars lived lavishly, partied decadently, and built mansions fit for an empress like Cleopatra.
Fittingly, the name of the ebullient and gracious lady of this Iloilo residence is Beverly Abordo. Her husband, Dr. Popoy Abordo, is a retired dentist who had a successful practice in San Francisco, California. Both were born and raised in Iloilo but they met in the U.S, where Beverly worked as a nurse and as a professional singer. It can be said that the Tony Bennett hit song about hearts being left in San Francisco applies to them. Prior to moving back to Iloilo, the Abordos lived in a house at Hillsborough.
“We bought it from a businessman who had a pool built and had it shaped like a gun,” says Beverly while laughing. “The architecture was very modern and it seemed to have been inspired by the works of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright.”
Beverly says she and her husband love to collect things. They have an extensive collection of Guiseppe Armani porcelain dolls and countless life-size sculptures that vary in style and themes. “Unfortunately, the Hillsborough house looked too modern to house the collection we have. So when Popoy decided to retire and return to Iloilo permanently, we built a very different house. We were through with modernism and we chose to build a Mediterranean-style house.”
Husband Popoy said that at first, they planned to sell the collection and the furniture to the Filipino movie producer who eventually bought the Hillsborough house. “But the offer he made was too low. The items were worth much more than that. The cost of shipping back the collection to Iloilo was high, but it was better than losing on our investment,” he said.
Moving back to Iloilo
Once the entire family was back in Iloilo, they shopped for property to build a house on. They found a huge lot that already had the shell of a big house standing on it. “The previous owner decided not to finish building it, and the place looked so perfect for us. It was providence!” says Beverly.
The unfinished house was already taking shape when construction was halted and when the Abordos bought it. The style is Mediterranean, which was ideal for the things they were bringing in. The dramatic layout was already in place; high ceilings that can accommodate such stunning chandeliers, spacious living areas with enough room for a baby grand piano, a spectacular staircase inspired by the two staircases at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel, and yes, enough room to showcase the beloved collection.
The open grounds are spacious and fully grown mahogany trees fill the back lawn. Beverly asked the famed designer Shirley Sanders to landscape the front lawn and rear garden. Sanders lined the long driveway with majestic Royal Palms. She built a gazebo, a grotto, and a pond filled with beautiful Koi fish on the front lawn. Popoy added a putting green near the gazebo.
The Abordos were tasked to put in the finishing touches to the house, which took more than two years to accomplish. “Metal work for all the windows and the gazebo in the pool area took two years to finish,” says Popoy. “It’s a very intricate design and we wanted every window in the house to have it.”
The bulk of the furniture in the house was shipped in from the previous home in Hillsborough. The few items that were acquired in the Philippines include two wooden sculptures that depict an Egyptian man and woman. The statues stand on each side of a glittering Egyptian table displaying a collection of crystal jars and plates and a golden clock adorned with a bust of an Egyptian pharaoh. The Egyptian theme of this corner of the living room is reminiscent of the epics of Cecil B. De Mille (“The Ten Commandments”). The corner aptly marks the entrance of the theater room, which comes equipped with lazy boy seats, deep red interiors, and a giant LCD screen. Popoy says the design of the mini theater was inspired by the look of the Iloilo movie house he used to go to as a teen-ager.
As it happens, the house is a showcase of various themes. The pool area features the Greek and Roman look, what with the white columns, and copies of Venus de Milo and David statues watching over the pool. The highlight of this area is the all-white gazebo that houses a small fountain. It doesn’t exactly have a roof, as it’s covered by the same kind of metal work that adorns the windows of the house. The pool Popoy had built is almost identical to the pool they had in the San Francisco home.
On the second floor, a TV room near the staircase is furnished with Chinese furniture and accessories. The bedroom of the two daughters is unmistakably French. Beverly says that all her children are fastidious when it comes to keeping their respective rooms in order. “The girls also put in their own decorating ideas. But now, my 11 year-old has plans of redoing their room. She wants to adopt the ‘Moulin Rouge’ look!” she gasps.
Upkeep of the entire house can be painstaking. Just keeping the porcelain collection shiny is a tedious chore. The cleaning has to be constant and done under intense supervision; otherwise something priceless is bound to break. The household work required by this home rivals that of the mansion in the movie, “Remains of the Day.”
The Abordos love watching movies and their DVD collection is as extensive as any other item they collect. It’s perhaps the reason why the house they live in could well suit a Hollywood star. It’s all there in the house; the glamour, the dramatic settings, and even the tall Palms, which recalls the palms that line the boulevards of Beverly Hills. The difference lies in the quiet life the Abordos live. To keep a little busy, Popoy established a store in downtown Iloilo called Iloilo Radioshack Electronics, which sells high-tech audio equipment.
“But we rarely go out. Even the children seldom go to the malls,” says Beverly. “We have everything we might need here. We’re happy with what we have in the house.”
Published in Manila Bulletin August 3, 2010
