The master’s house, carpeted in Italian slade tile and covered by a darkly-painted bamboo ceiling, seems to float in the still waters of the pool

In this mountainside dwelling south of Manila where bone-chilling breezes and frequent showers add to the drama of retreat, it is possible to forget the passing of time. Staff in garments the colour of olive approach with cool towels and beverages that soften the effects of the uphill journey. In the main house, 10 kinds of bamboo shake their leaves into the still waters of a garden pond whose residents, orange and white koi, have settled into a peace that can exist only in dreams.

“This is my hometown,” says the owner, speaking alternately in English and the vernacular, “but I never actually meant to come back after I had moved away.” Twenty years after settling in Manila for work and study, he heard of a location that brought back scenes from his rural childhood. “One day a lady came to visit, telling me of a property by the river where my siblings and I used to bathe when we were younger,” he says. At the time, no public transportation was available to them and they would jump into the water to refresh themselves after long walks. “By foot or by horse, it was an hour-long trip from the town to our house in the mountain.”

 The master’s open bedroom is filled with his favourite art pieces, amongst them paintings by the artist Ronald Ventura

Moved by memories of his youth, the owner, now a widely recognised landscape artist, was thrilled to make the purchase. Almost as wonderful were the terms of sale. “To acquire the land by the river, I also had to buy this property.” What began as a single-structure refuge, where space was allotted generously for the man-made landscape, was expanded to include a two-bedroom guest house with an adjacent bamboo hut and a private pool. “Friends began asking where I was going every other month,” says the owner. “Eventually, I brought some of them here.”

Though it is hardly possible to capture the intangible nature of what makes this place so magical, why guests keep coming back is no mystery. The master’s house, which gives evidence of his art, exudes a free-floating state of being. Treading the walkway between two ponds, sinking into one of two gigantic day beds, or observing the flowering lotuses, the soul could leave the body and never even notice. “The architecture and decor were inspired by trips to Bali and Japan,” says the owner. “My influences are very Asian.” As a self-taught “architect, builder, and designer,” he succeeds in intertwining clean lines with luxuriant plant life. “I started planting trees and bushes long before the structure was put up,” he says. “By the time we finished the house, the garden was already growing.”

 The owner spends a large part of his day in the shade of this lively tropical garden and pond, whose predominant green is broken by lotus flowers

Read the full story in Philippine Tatler Homes (Volume 7), available now on newsstands and bookstores. Download the digital version from Zinio and Magzter. | Photography by Toto Labrador