Casa de Segunda: An ancestral home of a hero's first love

Everyone falls in love, even heroes. Everyone has a unique love story, but only few gets documented such as the love of the Philippine national hero, Jose Rizal. Have you ever wonder where his first love, Segunda has lived or what is the condition of her house now? Are you curious about what happened to Segunda when she got married? Well that's what we're gonna find out on our travel to Casa de Segunda.

It was almost twelve noon when we prepared to travel to Casa de Segunda and decided to have lunch along the way. There was eagerness on our part for this much awaited travel.When we got there, we noticed a bell on the right side of the gate that has to be rung for us to get inside. My daughter smiled while pulling the string. Inside, we were approached by the secretary of Mrs. Lilet Malabanan who will give us a tour inside the house. Mrs. Lilet Malabanan, is a great granddaughter of Segunda Katigbak. 

Casa de Segunda was named after Segunda Solis Katigbak, who was considered Jose Rizal's first love. Segunda married Manuel Luz, a member of one of Lipa's prominent families in 1886, and the house was blessed with nine equally bright and gifted children.

Casa de Segunda is Spanish in architecture, yet essentially a tropical house. Here, their children and grandchildren were trained in music, as it is common then to play the piano and sing songs after dinner.

The ground floor of the house was used to park the carriage and as storage for the produce. It is now a lobby with reading materials and a logbook for visitors. The portrait of Segunda Katigbak and her family are also on display.

Segunda Katigbak

At the left side of the lobby is the dining area that shows the original dining table and hat rack. The long table suggests that families during that time has many children and the hat rack or bastonero is a sign of prestige.

The living room is on the second floor. Our host shows us the original chess table where Jose Rizal and Manuel Luz has played chess. Jose lost that game. Jose Rizal was quoted in saying that he lost to Manuel twice. The first was on Segunda and the second was on chess. I wonder how Segunda has felt during that time when Jose and Manuel were playing. It must have been really awkward.

Paintings of Segunda's Grandchildren are displayed on the entire house. It significantly describes the Luz-Katigbak clan as a family of artists.

Then we were led to the bedrooms. The masters bedroom still has the original bed of Segunda. The other bedrooms also has their original beds but mattress were placed on top because relatives choose to sleep here when they are on vacation.

The azotea or balcony has a wide space and the tree besides it gives the balcony a relaxing shade and breeze. From there, we have a nice view of the ground.

The tour ends at the fountain at the center of the garden. Here, we took a souvenir photo with Mrs. Lilet Malabanan.

And certainly, the turtle living in the fountain can't escape our souvenir shot. We also took notice of the Alagao tree near the gate. We learned that this tree was personally planted by Segunda herself. This is also the tree were Jose ties his horse when he visited the Katigbak Mansion.

My family are thankful to Mrs. Lilet Malabanan for accommodating us and to her secretary for doing the tour. Casa de Segunda is located at 198 Rizal Street, Lipa City, Batangas.