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By Karla Rey, Contributor
Photos by Nicky Sering for Giveadogabone
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Joel
Cruz in one of his favorite sitting nooks |
People have their own
peculiarities. For Joel Cruz, the preference for cool weather is
one. “I like cold places. Whenever I travel, I never go during
summertime. It’s almost always usually during winter,” he
shares. It is then not surprising to learn that besides this
Tagaytay rest house, the other is in Baguio.
Joel Cruz, the man behind the
flourishing Aficionado brand and who has launched his own signature
line of skin care products, is a story of success. A psychology
graduate of the University of Santo Tomas, he realize early on that
his strength lay in marketing. While he has had his shares of
business lows specially in the mid 1990s when he had to close his
garment manufacturing enterprise, he nonetheless opened more
Aficionado outlets, a move that proved his business acumen. But
despite being a hard-working businessman, Cruz finds time to reward
himself. And this rest house was one.
From the moment a visitor enters
the three-level home it is clear that is a place of uncommon
personality. The first floor is classic Mediterranean, the second is
Oriental and the top-most, is basically comfortable eclectic. What
ties them all together are the breath-taking views made possible
with floor to ceiling glass panels.
An Agui Pagkatipunan door opens
to the living area with double volume ceiling. A beautiful
chandelier, that reminds Joel of a pineapple—that in turn is
associated with Tagaytay—hangs above the space and casts a soft
glow. To the left is a grand staircase with a piano below it. A
short turn is the formal dining area beside a well-equipped kitchen.
Right outside is the al fresco dining set that overlooks a pool,
which from the top was shaped like the Aficionado bottle and its
logo marked on the bottom. “That is heated,” he says probably to
explain a pool despite its cool location. It was evident that this
place was created both for entertaining and relaxation.
Going up the wooden stairs, a
striking hand-carved Oriental wall hang breaks the monotonous
ascend. This piece marks the second floor dedicated to pieces
completely different from the public areas below. This floor houses
the three guest rooms furnished pragmatically with sofas that
transform into additional beds.
The topmost floor is his
sanctuary. Here, one finds his bedroom done in a dynamic red. Right
outside is a well-stocked bar that opens to a porch. Still a work in
progress, he is considering of consulting a feng shui master on
properly locating his bed, currently angled so that he always wakes
up to a nice view.
Cruz claims he didn’t hire a
single interior designer. Artfully designing the house himself, he
gives it a personal sense of definition and comfort. Despite his
very hectic schedule, Joel was very hands-on in the process, from
conceptualizing to detailing and personally picking out the pieces.
“Even when I travel, I bring home things that I like and not
really worry if it will fit [into his current collection].” And
with the different themes he has in this home, he probably doesn’t
have to.
While some people would prefer a
hideaway that is all country or perhaps all vintage, Cruz’s home
took a different approach. Nonetheless, the result is a home that
has the ability to melt any busy man’s worries away—the
owner’s and those of people fortunate enough to be invited in.
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