The house is now a historical institution and one of the shrines of the Katipunan and the Revolution of 1896.
By CHRISTINE ANNE T. CABANATAN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Called “Ang Tahanan ng mga Katipunero” (The home of the Katipuneros), the 100-year-old Nakpil-Bautista house still stands in Quiapo, Manila, a testament to Filipino heroism, culture and innovation.
The house belonged to spouses Petrona Nakpil-Bautista and Dr. Ariston Bautista, a member of the Propaganda Movement. The historic house is located along A. Bautista street, named after its prominent resident.
Also residents of the house were the family of Petrona’s brother Julio Nakpil.
Julio, a high-ranking official of the Katipunan, married Gregoria “Oriang” de Jesus, dubbed the Lakambini of the Katipunan, and Andres Bonifacio’s widow.
The Bautista couple had the house totally reconstructed in 1914, with Arcadio Arellano as the architect.
Julio was also a musician, and he composed and wrote the lyrics of the song “Marangal na Dalit ng Katagalugan,” upon the request of Andres Bonifacio for a national anthem.
The house is now a historical institution and one of the shrines of the Katipunan and the Revolution of 1896.
“Bahay Nakpil was uniquely built by its spaciousness. When you enter the house, you will discover why it is depicted like that,” Maria Paz Nakpil Santos-Viola, descendant and President of Nakpil-Bautista House told Bulatlat.com.
Its style speaks simple elegance, she said.
The house is typical of the “bahay-na-bato,” a Spanish-era Filipino style of the concrete house, yet with a distinctive “Viennese secession style.”
With its origins from Vienna, Austria, the Secessionist movement diverted from the realist interpretation of objects, and did this instead through lines and geometrical shapes.
“This house may be a stand out in the Philippine Islands, for it has the Vienesse Secession style – that is one of the reasons why this house has been given a status as a National Historical Landmark,” Viola said.
She also noted the durable materials of the house, to which most modern day houses cannot even compare.
“The architect of this house, Arcadio Arellano adapted European and Japanese style and put it into a Filipino architecture of the house. But the core or the essence of the Filipino house still remained,” Viola said. 
