I Miss Sleeping In This House

In Filipino, we call this home ‘bahay kubo’ or in Ilocano ‘balay’. You know it as nipa hut. You know also that this is the traditional house for every Pinoy. Before 1980’s, most of the houses in the Philippines look like this.

The roofs are made from cogon grass, the floor is made from sturdy bamboo; the pillars are hardy wood; the walls are either from weaved coconut leaves or woven bamboo variety called bolo.

Simple as it is but this house have been long endangered in the country. You cannot see them in the city much more to the urban areas. All you can see are the columns of bungalow and mansions in the subdivisions and the condos in the lining up of high rise buildings in heart of the metropolis.

You want to see them again, go to the rural and remote villages of the country. Go and walk for 4 or more hours and brave the bushy path in the forest.  Go and hike the rising mountains where you can see the communities who built their nipa hut.

It is not an easy assignment now to search for this kind of house. In fact, the photo here is just miniature made in the carriage of a tractor as a show for parade in the city.

Why do Pinoy love to sleep in this house now? Because it’s the experience of rural living. It has been told that sleeping in bahay kubo is more comfortable just like the air-conditioned room because of the free air flowing in the open window and the from below. The materials are green and organic that makes it comfortable than the hotter cemented and secluded home in the city. Besides, sleeping in the nipa hut is getting you closer to nature. Let’s not include the consideration of lower cost of building the house.

It’s been long time, in fact, maybe a decade, that I/we have not sleep in nipa hut.

Sometimes it’s good to be back at the basic.