An intact 17th-century Mestizo townhouse in the old downtown, built around 1730 by a Chinese merchant family and one of the oldest surviving private residences in the Philippines. The ground floor is built of stone, the upper storey of tindalo hardwood, in the typical Parian (Chinese quarter) style. Inside you'll find period furniture, Chinese ceramics, religious artefacts, and the grave of the original owner in the courtyard. The family still owns and operates the house as a museum; entrance is by donation. It gives a far more intimate sense of colonial-era life than the larger official museums.
Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House
A story
The house was built in the 1730s by a Chinese trader who converted to Christianity and took the name Don Juan Yap — the hyphenated Yap-Sandiego surname reflects the Spanish practice of adding a saint's name to Chinese converts. The original owner is buried in the courtyard below an ornate cross, as Filipino custom required burying the dead within the property.