Bahay na Bato at Kahoy Architectural and Home Furnishing Terms

Accessoria - "apartment-type dwelling characterized by common party walls shared by

adjoining units with separate door each in front"

Aljibe - cistern

Antesala - see Caida

Aparador de tres lunas - "armoire with three sections"

Arko - arch

Azotea - "open-air balcony beside the kitchen that housed a cistern (aljibe) and the
bathroom and was usually a work area" (Bambi Harper)

Atlas, Atlantes - "a column in the shape of a man"

Balconaje, Balcon - balcony

Banggera - " a wooden dish rack that extends outside the kitchen window. After the dishes
are washed, they are placed here to be air-dried. The inverted cups are placed on the ends
of the wooden sticks and the plates are placed in between or above the slats. On the far left
is a tapayan/banga, an earthenware jar that keeps water cool." (Old Manila Nostalgia blog);
cf. Batalan

Baera - bathtub

Bao - bathroom

Barandillas - (usually wooden) railing or balustrade

Barrigones - "buntis" (or bombere, pregnant) grillworks on windows, to accommodate

planters

Batalan - rear part of house used for washing and water storage, with a flooring often made
of slatted bamboo; more a part of a bahay kubo (but may be present as well at the rear of a
bahay na bato)

Baul mondo - traveling trunk

Bentwood beech chairs and other furniture - imported dark wood furniture made
by European August Thonet

Brackets - series of often diagonal braces placed in support of the volada on the second
floor

Butaka - "a version of silla perezosa with no leg rests"

Caida - landing on the upper entrance hall; "foyer of the second floor"; also called Antesala

Calado - lace-style fretwork or latticework used to adorn room dividers and to allow air to
circulate

Capilla - "long bench, a staple item in the caida"

Capital - "topmost member of a column (or pilaster) mediating between the column and the
load"

Capiz window - (often) sliding window made of capiz shells cut into squares

Caryatid - "a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a
column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head"

Clerestory - "any high windows above eye level for the purpose of bringing outside light,
fresh air, or both into the inner space"

Cocina - kitchen, which was typically built separately from the house

Colonette - "a small, thin decorative column supporting a beam (horizontal timber) or lintel
(beam spanning a door or window)"

Comedor - dining room

Comun - toilet; also called Latrina

Corbel - "a projection jutting out from a wall to support a structure above it"; also Braces?

Cornice - a ledge or "generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns a building or
furniture element"

Court, Courtyard - "a space enclosed by walls and is open to the sky; has azotea or
balconaje"

Cuartos - rooms

Cuatro aguas - "hip roof, which has more corners and angles, making it stronger than the
dos aguas (gable) or high-pitched roof due to stronger aerodynamics (i.e., more wind
resistance); also has the advantage of providing an overhang, which is effective for
protecting the house from rainwater and from direct sunlight"

Dapugan - "a platform in the kitchen where the 'kalan' or clay stove is placed"

Despacho - office; also Oficina

Dispensa - pantry

Dos aguas - "gable or high-pitched roof"

Eave - "bottom edge of a roof"

Engaged column - column in support of the roof above

Entresuelo - mezzanine; "literally meaning 'between floors, this is the area where clients,
tenants or estate managers (if the owner was a rich landowner) wait before being admitted to
the oficina (office)"

Escalera - stairway

Escritorio - "a large chest of drawers, commonly adorned with inlay work"

Estante - dining room cabinet where chinaware and silverware are diplayed

Faade - front

Finial - "a usually foliated ornament forming an upper extremity"

Fresquera - storage room for salted food, etc.; placed on the wall of the house facing
outside

Gable - "the part of a wall that encloses the end of a pitched roof"

Gallinera - literally, "chicken seat"; "usually found outside the oficina of a landowner; coming
from the Spanish word 'gallo' (chicken), this church bench-inspired settee is used for farmers
to place chickens on the cage underneath in exchange for paying cash" (Old Manila
Nostalgia blog)

Gargoyle - "a carved stone grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof
and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down
masonry walls and eroding the mortar between"
Gingerbread trim, Running trim - "19th century Victorian style of fancifully cut and pierced
frieze boards, scrolled brackets, sawn balusters, and braced arches, to transform simple
frame cottages into one-of-a-kind homes" (Murvyn Callo); "usually attached to the eaves to
make it more decorative and to curving iron rods that help support the media agua"

Kama - typically meaning four-poster bed

Kama ni Ah Tay - "a once popular signature four poster bed design that was carved by a
famous Chinese furniture maker named Eduardo Ah Tay. To have this bed was considered a
symbol of status during the Spanish era." (Old Manila Nostalgia blog)

Kantoneras (Brackets) - "either plain calado cut-outs or fully carved embellishments usually
placed where beams and columns intersect especially under the "soffit" or overhanging
ceiling outside house; also seen to decorate door or window openings, hallways or simply
dividing spaces"

Lansenas - kitchen sideboards

Latrina - see Comun

Load-bearing wall - wall used in place of posts to bear weight

Machuca tiles (formerly known as baldozas mosaicas) - colorful Mediterranean-style

cement tiles used for the zaguan flooring; often in harlequin pattern; manufactured by the
Machuca company; another brand is Majolica

Mascaron - "an architectural ornament representing a face or head -- human or animal --

that is often grotesque or frightening"

Media aguas - canopy or roof shed, consisting of "a piece of metal roof that protects the
window from rain or heat"; not to be confused with awning

Mirador - lighthouse; lookout tower

Moulding, molding - "a strip of material (such as wood or metal) with some design or
pattern that is used as a decoration on a wall, on the edge of a table, etc."

Oratorio - prayer room with an altar of santos

Painted metal sheet ceiling - pressed "tin or copper ceiling from maybe late Victorian to
early American colonial period, to prevent decay by moisture or worms (or even mouse)"

Paminggalan - "a cabinet where leftover food and preserves are stored. The doors of the
cabinet have slats so that it can absorb air and room temperature inside. To avoid ants from
coming up and getting to the food, the legs of the cabinet are placed on containers filled with
kerosene or any liquid." (Old Manila Nostalgia blog)

Pasamano - window ledge

Persiana - louver window

Piedra china - Chinese stone used to pave the floor of the zaguan

Pilaster - false pillar "used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate
an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function"

Platera - aparador or cabinet for kitchenware (chiefly china)

Porte cochere - horse carriage porch or portico at the main entrance

Portico - "(from Italian) a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a

colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls"
Puerta - "door of the entrada principal (main entrance)"

Puertita - "small cut door that is part of the puerta"

Pugon - clay oven

Punkah - ceiling cloth fan

Sala mayor - main living room, place for late-afternoon parties called tertulias and dances
called bailes

Sala menor - secondary living room

Sillas Americanas - "American chairs, considered the Monobloc chairs of their time (due to
ubiquity)"

Silla perezosa - lazy chair

Solihiya - typical wicker weave pattern in furniture

Stained glass - "glass colored or stained (as by fusing metallic oxides into it) for decorative
applications (as in windows)"

Transom - "transverse horizontal structural beam or bar" often in floral tracery design

Trompe l'oeil - "a style of painting in which things are painted in a way that makes them look
like real objects"

Tumba-tumba - Philippine rocking chair

Valance - "a length of decorative drapery hung above a window to screen the curtain fittings"

Ventana - "wooden window panel that uses a grid pattern with flattened capiz shell panes";
often in sliding style, as opposed to flinging out

Ventanilla - literally 'small window'; "sliding panels between the floor and windows" to allow
more air and light; "usually protected by balustrades which can either be wooden or wrought
iron grills"

Volada - "an enclosed overhanging balcony"; "a gallery (along the elaborate system of
windows) which protects the rooms from the heat of the sun"

Yerong pukpok - see Gingerbread trim

Zaguan - ground floor (literally "passageway" in Arabic) to accommodate horse carriages

and carrozas (processional carriages)