This house is the Roldan ancestral house or known as the Morales Building built by Rev. Fr. Mariano Roldan for his parents Don Francisco Roldan and Doña Agapita Roldan y Mercado. He was the second regular native clergy from Libmanan who was ordained in 1907 (next to Bishop Sancho in 1903). The house was built in 1937 as inscribed in the façade of the building. When Libmanan was occupied by the Japanese Imperial Forc...es, the house became one of the garrisons since the place was the station for the cavalry where the horses were situated used in the rondas or tactical inspections of the Japanese officers.
Through the years, the house becomes one of the significant land marks of the town because of its imposing grandeur and structural beauty that is unique only to the town or even in Bicol. It is one of the examples of Neoclassic architectural design during the time when it was built. It echoes the dominant Art Deco design of the building where geometric lines and stucco that used the concrete iron and cement in the building. It was believed that the imposing monument of the two birds (white crane, talaod or kagang) that stand to the seemingly modern castle in the tower of the building is the insignia or the coat of arms of the Roldan clan in Spain. Though the building is primarily modern and American in style, still the floor plans of the house is native or Filipino that can be observed in the small rooms and even wooden and stiff staircases of the house. One of the significant designs also of the house is the carved Philippine Flag (which was not allowed to be publicly displayed that time) in one of its frescoes in the facade of the building which was quite unique of that time since we are still in the hands of the Americans though in the Commonwealth Period (1935-46).
When Fr. Mariano died, the house was inherited by his only sister Doña Rosario Roldan who was married to Don Pablo Rocha. Later, the house was sold to the Morales family and when the family moved out to America, they rented it to the Koreans who rebuilt the PNR bridge of Libmanan.
Furthermore, it was said that originally at the top of the tower in between the two birds, one of the sculptural pieces that stood there was a woman sitting on a half moon, and because of the weather it was detached from the original design of the house. It was also said that the builder of this house built a tunnel that connects to the church.
(photo credits: Wowee Dollente and others who owned the pictures)
