Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar

A developer began buying decaying Spanish-era and early twentieth-century houses across Luzon, numbering the pieces, trucking them to a coastal estate in Bataan and rebuilding them along invented streets with a river, plazas and a stone bridge. The result is a town that never existed made of buildings that did. You see it on a guided walk or by tram, going inside a handful of houses with period furniture, a hardwood staircase or a painted ceiling. Craftsmen on site cut replacement mouldings and shell windows by hand. It sits between the sea and the hills, and the streets are lit by lamps after dark.

History

Jose Acuzar, owner of New San Jose Builders, began rebuilding Spanish colonial-era mansions at Bagac in 2003, and the site opened to the public in March 2010, after serving as a filming location for the series Zorro in March 2009. Moving heritage houses from their towns remains a contested practice among conservationists, and in November 2021 the resort was named Best Historic Hotel in Asia and the Pacific (Wikipedia, Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar).

Highlights

• The relocated houses - stone-and-hardwood mansions rebuilt block by block along invented streets.
• The interiors on the tour - period furniture, hardwood stairs and capiz shell windows in a few open houses.
• The craft workshops - carvers and joiners cutting replacement mouldings and shell panels on site.
• The river and bridge - a stone bridge and waterway threaded through the reconstructed town.

When to go

November to May, the dry months; the Bataan coast takes weather from June onward. Day tours start at set times and must be booked, and the site fills at weekends and holidays with domestic visitors. Late afternoon light suits the streets, and the lamps come on at dusk if you stay for an evening tour.

Things to know

It is a reconstruction, and how you feel about moving heritage buildings out of their towns to a private estate will shape the visit. You cannot wander freely; access is by scheduled guided tour and most houses stay shut. It is expensive, and food and drink on site more so. From Manila it is four hours each way, which makes a day trip long and a night's stay close to compulsory.

Nearby

Bagac's beaches are alongside; Balanga town and the Bataan coast road are the route back toward Manila.

Key facts