Bahay Na Bato, Luna, La Union

"Bahay na Bato" (Stone House), a house made of stone is located in Luna, La Union. Ate Jean, our former dorm mate in Ortigas who now lives again in La Union thought we might enjoy the place, especially me given my line of work. With elements of major stone and wood art + beach scenery. I hope you guys appreciate it as much as we have.

Having personally experienced extreme heat emitted from the sun, the stones and the pebbles in the summer, I'm very confident to suggest it as a tourist destination even during the rainy season. Why? Because its shore is basically made up of pebbles. Therefore, they balance the temperature in the area as the stones and pebbles emit stored heat to combat the cold air brought about by the season.
The site. It is actually a compound of two houses with interesting sculptures made of stone and wood scattered all over the wide garden/landscape leading up to the shore. It serves as a gallery as a whole, quite nice!

Entrance fee was about P20.00 or P25.00/person if I remember correctly. Once paid, you'll be stamped with this

Once in, all attractions inside are free for you to enjoy the whole day (but I doubt you'll stay here the whole day). The complex is a little small for you to spend a whole day here. I think you can check everything out in two, maybe three hours at max.
Garden Area. This area is adorned with stone and wood sculptures/carvings creatively done by local artists and most of the best attractions were made by a Korean artist, who was commissioned to freely demonstrate his passion by the owner of the compound.

Travel motto: enjoy the company of friends and take lots of photos for documentation hahaha! Live.Love.Laugh

This is the first house you'll encounter in the compound. I find it really cute and quaint. We didn't get to enter the house though, it was locked so we just took a groupie out in front.

Walking further, we saw the main attraction of the site.

Architecture. It is entitled "Bahay na Bato" because it is literally made of stone as observed. However, it is not similar to our traditional Bahay na Bato in the Philippines which came from strict Spanish origins. So I hope that future researchers (aka students doing home works) do not include this in your typical "Bahay na Bato" examples. Though it could be dubbed as a more contemporary type of the style. It is very beautiful nonetheless.

Entering in we saw beautiful collections of local handcrafted works of art. It gave the white walls, stoned walls and high ceiling a homey feeling all throughout.

 

Going upstairs...more memorabilia and sculptures

 

 

The scenery we adored so much was this. An endless shore where unlimited pebbles meets the blue ocean. Though it looked really nice to walk to the shore that time, we didn't go further. It was way to hot as the pebbles absorbed the heat of the sun all to well and as mentioned earlier, pebbles and stones releases stored heat. So even as we were wearing footwear, we couldn't bear the heat transmitted from both air and the stones. So we opted to just admire it from our viewpoint.

We went downstairs to get a closer look... under the shade of the house, we did some serious #girlsquad photos! lol

Snacks are available at the main hall of the house. It is an open space turned into a resting place and snack area at the same time. Still, it was hot even when you're under the shade. The openings of the house allowed outside heat to freely enter the house so don't forget to bring something to tie your hair or your fans to help you cool down.

The site is just a few minutes away from our destinations for the day (Halo-Halo de Iloko Balay, Thunderbird Resort, Sebay Resort etc.), be sure to check your maps and plan your itineraries well so you won't waste time...and gas! Thanks again ate Jean for the destination! love love!

Thank you and see you on the next post ;)