The tiny house movement has finally reached the Philippines but it has been here from the beginning. Most people have been used to live life with less material things in the past and the process just happened in reverse as many Filipinos have move out from the provinces to the urban centers in search for work and better life.
The Philippines is a tropical and archipelagic country located in Southeast Asia that is made of 7,107 islands with varying landscapes from high-density urban centers in Metro Manila to the mountainous and remote towns of central Mindanao and from the idyllic island paradise of Batanes to the old and historic Vigan. But the truth of the matter, prospective homeowners should take the hot and rainy season in consideration.
Bahay Kubo
Ideally, Filipinos lived in bahay kubo in the countryside which are built from light materials: bamboo, nipa hut, coconut lumber and even from natural fibers from plants used to tie things together. Why use light materials? It's cheap, easy to find, and more manageable to maintain. The good thing about this type of tropical dwelling is that it allows better air circulation during the hot summer months. However, it may not be good to give you better protection during the rainy, typhoon season.
Designs vary from portable guest houses that can be transported via "bayanihan" where your neighbors and friends lift your house from the ground up and transfer it to another place. Most of these type of houses are on stilts so that it won't get flooded and prevent rats from getting in. Some have modernized the design by building a solid foundation with stones and even bricks but maintained their bahay kubo style.
Bahay na Bato
Although not as common sa bahay kubo, bahay na bato ("house of stone") is unique house design prevalent in most town centers in the past and some were preserved in historic cities throughout the country. This is a common type of house design especially built for more affluent citizens wherein they used stones, rocks, tiles and high-quality wood with exquisite craftsmanship that bahay kubo does not have.
Its obvious features are the intricate woodwork and ornate carved pieces, the veranda, the ventilation holes, the large sliding windows with opaque capiz shells. Soon American influence were added in the early 20th century.
"OFW" Homes
The growth of the overseas Filipino workers have gave rise to the so-called "OFW" homes where elements from foreign house design were incorporated to their personal preferences. Some have adopted ultra-modern architecture while some combine typical Filipino style and kitschy yet idealistic interpretation of what a dream house is.
Typical "OFW" homes are usually found in suburban subdivisions and some gated communities where mass-produced houses are constructed based on template, pre-fabricated structures. Some detached houses lined up in the provincial highways where homes of overseas workers in the Middle East and beyond are constructed. It is often characterized with a typical Mediterranean style palette with open air deck and veranda, green lawn and matching steel fence and gate.
In fact, some have let their imagination run wild and built themselves a proper ship house. Yes a house that looks like a ship. So if you're a seaman working from distant seas and you want a house for your family then why not build it?
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