Bahay na bato

Báhay na bató (Filipino for "stone house"), also known in Visayan as baláy na bató or balay nga bato, is a traditional Philippine architectural style originating from the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines (1565–1898). It is the aristocratic version of the traditional bahay kubo of the native Christianized lowlanders. It was popular among the ruling upper-class (principalía) and middle-class families in the 19th to early 20th centuries. Báhay na bató are also commonly referred to as "ancestral houses", due to it being the most common style for surviving ancestral family homes.

It is differentiated from the bahay kubo by its incorporation of elements from Spanish colonial architecture; as well as its use of stone and brick materials, rather than just wood, bamboo, and thatching. It is also referred to as arquitectura mestiza ("mixed architecture") due to it being composed of both wood and stone. It retains the basic design of the bahay kubo, which is adapted to the tropical climate and the frequent typhoons and earthquakes in the Philippine islands.

Báhay na bató is built in a hybrid style of Austronesian and Spanish architecture; and later, also early 20th-century American architecture. The wooden foundations of the stilt house design of bahay kubo were replaced with stone and were enclosed further in stone or brick walls, forming a "ground floor" (the silong). This enclosed ground level contains storage rooms, stables (the cuadras or caballerizas), carriage storage areas (the zaguan), cellars, and workshops. The silong is accessed through a large main entrance known as the puerto, which has one or two smaller inset doors for foot traffic known as postigos.

The upper floor is accessed by internal stairs (escaleras) and it contains the actual living areas, as it is with the bahay kubo. The upper story is characteristically overhanging the silong and features balustrades (ventanillas) and capiz-shell sliding windows.

The roof materials are either Spanish-style curving clay tiles (teja de curva) or thatched with leaves (like nipa, sago palm, or cogon). Later 19th-century designs feature galvanized iron roofs. Roof designs are traditionally high pitched, with gables or hip roofs, or a traditional combination of both (similar to the East Asian hip-and-gable roof).

Aside from houses, the same architectural style was also used for Spanish-era convents, monasteries, schools, hotels, factories, and hospitals. It was also used for the Gabaldon school buildings, during the American colonial period of Philippines (1898–1946). After the Second World War, construction of these buildings declined and eventually stopped in favor of post-World War II modern architecture.