A really nice place......

[OnMyWay]

We have made some good friends of some of the parents at our kid's school.  One couple has been to our house a few times and we visited their coffee bar and resto in Dinalupihan a few times.  They kept promising us and some other parents that they would have us out to their parents farm in Lubao, and today we did visit.  They had a belated pool party for their son, who turned 5 a few weeks ago.

Wow, what a place!  We only saw the area around the main house.  They have a lot of mangoes and a few other fruits.  Somewhere they have pigs and sheep, but we did not see them.  It is a big place!

The main house and grounds are amazing!  I don't know how they have money, but they must have a lot.  The family, especially the couple we are close to, are very down to earth and not pretentious.  We met the mother and father, and two brothers.  The father has a sister who lives in Torrance, CA, near where I grew up.

They bought this house and farm with retirement in mind, about 6 years ago, but they have since decided that they don't like living there.  Too boring.  So they have a lot of caretakers and just visit when they feel like it.  Their other house is in Dinalupihan, about 20 minutes away.  They do have the farm for sale if anyone is interested.

Some pics of the outside of the house and grounds:

I didn't get a good shot of the "front" of the house which is actually a side.  They usually enter in the back as that is closest to the garage.  This picture of the left is looking from the rotunda in front towards the front of the house.  The building on the left is a "party house" that is just a big room with tables, and a big kitchen in the back.  The picture on the right is looking from the party house out to the rotunda.

  

These two pictures are looking from the party house to the "side" the main house.

  

Two pictures of a side that has a pond, but they won't have water in the pond until the rains start.

  

Two shots of the pool area.  They fill it with well water, but the wells could not fill it in time for the party.  However, it worked out perfectly for the small kids.  It was probably 1 ft deep in the shallow and 1.5 in the deep.

  

The dry big pond and catch basin.  When rainy season starts it fills quickly and they stock it with Tilapia.  We plan to go back and let the kids fish.  Then, looking from the pond dock to the back of the main house.

  

Kids having fun at the pool!  My kids have the hats.  My 2 almost 3 year old is quite a fish!  She goes underwater without issues and does not panic or cry.  When she pops up, she yells "yeah"!  She only had one lesson but learned to blow out when she goes under.  Hope to get them back into lessons soon.

 

[Old55]

What a lovely home and grounds. It looks like the children had a blast.

[JJReyes]

5 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

The father has a sister who lives in Torrance, CA, near where I grew up.

I am very family with Torrance where my wife's family still resides.  My first visit was 49 years ago when my wife and I started dating.  At the time, there were lots of marsh land for migratory birds.  Now it is a sprawling suburbia.  

[fototek1]

I am curious to know the price. I will guess P30,000,000. 

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, fototek1 said:

I am curious to know the price. I will guess P30,000,000. 

I have no idea of the total land area which would determine most of the price.  I searched "Farm property in Lubao" and based on a few asking prices I see there, the price would be much higher than 30 mil.

[TimL]

Wow. What a beautiful place. 

[graham59]

'Southfork' ?  

 

( I am at present drawing up plans for the expansion of our shack towards something approaching that garage   ).

[Arizona Kid]

17 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

We have made some good friends of some of the parents at our kid's school.  One couple has been to our house a few times and we visited their coffee bar and resto in Dinalupihan a few times.  They kept promising us and some other parents that they would have us out to their parents farm in Lubao, and today we did visit.  They had a belated pool party for their son, who turned 5 a few weeks ago.

Wow, what a place!  We only saw the area around the main house.  They have a lot of mangoes and a few other fruits.  Somewhere they have pigs and sheep, but we did not see them.  It is a big place!

The main house and grounds are amazing!  I don't know how they have money, but they must have a lot.  The family, especially the couple we are close to, are very down to earth and not pretentious.  We met the mother and father, and two brothers.  The father has a sister who lives in Torrance, CA, near where I grew up.

They bought this house and farm with retirement in mind, about 6 years ago, but they have since decided that they don't like living there.  Too boring.  So they have a lot of caretakers and just visit when they feel like it.  Their other house is in Dinalupihan, about 20 minutes away.  They do have the farm for sale if anyone is interested.

Some pics of the outside of the house and grounds:

I didn't get a good shot of the "front" of the house which is actually a side.  They usually enter in the back as that is closest to the garage.  This picture of the left is looking from the rotunda in front towards the front of the house.  The building on the left is a "party house" that is just a big room with tables, and a big kitchen in the back.  The picture on the right is looking from the party house out to the rotunda.

  

These two pictures are looking from the party house to the "side" the main house.

  

Two pictures of a side that has a pond, but they won't have water in the pond until the rains start.

  

Two shots of the pool area.  They fill it with well water, but the wells could not fill it in time for the party.  However, it worked out perfectly for the small kids.  It was probably 1 ft deep in the shallow and 1.5 in the deep.

  

The dry big pond and catch basin.  When rainy season starts it fills quickly and they stock it with Tilapia.  We plan to go back and let the kids fish.  Then, looking from the pond dock to the back of the main house.

  

Kids having fun at the pool!  My kids have the hats.  My 2 almost 3 year old is quite a fish!  She goes underwater without issues and does not panic or cry.  When she pops up, she yells "yeah"!  She only had one lesson but learned to blow out when she goes under.  Hope to get them back into lessons soon.

 

Looks like your friends must be politicians. 

[RBM]

It's really a country of extremes  would not be surprised within a few KMS there sadly is poverty. 

[OnMyWay]

31 minutes ago, RBM said:

It's really a country of extremes  would not be surprised within a few KMS there sadly is poverty. 

Yes, of course.  Although in the Lubao area the worst I have seen is low, low middle class.  Nothing like the abject poverty of the slums in Manila, etc.  Farming seems to keep the economy going fairly well, and now they have some touristy stuff too.  I have been driving through the area for 6 years now, and it seems to be always improving.

The farms along the main JASA road usually have a big owners house along the road.  They were having the Lubao Balloon and Music Festival over the weekend and we got caught in some traffic.  When the kids are older we will check it out.