Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort
Experience the allure of Philippine country life at Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort.
A self-contained working coconut plantation, It was founded in the 1880s by Don Placido Escudero and his wife Dona Claudia Marasigan. Originally planted to sugarcane, the crop was converted to coconut by their son Don Arsenio Escudero in the early 1900s. A pioneering agro-industrialist, he built the country's first working hydroelectric plant to supply his dessicated coconut factory and Villa Escudero, where he and his wife Dona Rosario Adap built in 1929.
Their children opened the estate to the public in 1981. From its humble beginnings, the resort has become a prime tourist destination for locals, overseas Filipinos and a wide array of foreign visitors to the country. It has a worldwide reputation as a showcase for the Philippines' rich cultural heritage, offering a beguiling glimpse of its history, cuisine, dress, customs and natural beauty a mere two hours away from Manila.
Museum
The AERA Memorial Museum, founded by spouses Arsenio and Rosario
Escudero, houses one of the largest collections in the country,
unmatched in its eclectic diversity. Housed in a replica of a long-gone
church in Intramuros with painted trompe-l'oeil ceilings, the present
building opened for viewing in 1987
The core of the collection is its trove of colonial religious art. The superbly executed silver altars, gilded carrozas, ivory santos, embroidered vestments and intricately carved inages and bas-reliefs and tableaux, most dating from the Spanish colonial era are a testimony to the artistry and piety of the Filipino. Reflecting a lifetime of dedicated collecting and the wide-ranging interest of the Escudero couple, there are also extensive collections of Oriental ceramics, natural history and ethnographic dioramas, costumes, household furniture, weaponry and many other items of interest collected in their travels around the world.
Waterfalls Restaurant
Lunch is served on bamboo dining tables set in a few inches of crystalline running water from the falls. The experience of dining on delicious local dishes with the sparkling waterfalls as a backdrop with clear spring water running over your feet is a truly singular and memorable experience only Villa Escudero can offer.
After lunch, enjoy the Philippine Experience Show and watch the country's cultural legacy come beautifully to life. Paddle a native bamboo raft on the still waters of the lake,
take a dip at the pool,
explore the grounds, watch for many of the 95 recorded resident bird species, or tour the rural village in a colorful jeepney and observe how coconut is harvested. At Villa Escudero, there are so many ways to spend your day.
