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 - 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)

Bañera - bathtub

Baño - bathroom

Barandillas - (usually wooden) railing or balustrade

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

planters

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 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

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"

Façade - 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 - "a fancifully cut and pierced frieze
metal sheet attached to the eaves, a trimming that instantly transforms
simple windows into a piece of art"; "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; 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

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 - "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 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"

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

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)