The sleepy old town of Silay has a wonderful hideaway we discovered on a recent trip.

An era ago, Silay was dubbed the Paris of Negros for its vibrant arts and culture, and elaborate homes of the provincial elite that are now the preserved heritage houses that draw tourists to the place.

Tucked away in a sprawling hacienda, about 15 minutes from the Bacolod-Silay International Airport, is Punong Gary’s Place.

Going there is like being in a thriller documentary—but without any script. It’s a bit creepy at night—you have to traverse a pitch-black, kilometer-long rough road in a forest bordered by sugarcane fields.

But as you cross its unassuming, nipa hut-adorned doorway, the scene unfolds like an Amorsolo painting in 3D: fishponds as far as the eye can see, crisscrossing trees whichever side you look, and the constant blowing of the wind that induces sheer bliss.

Punong Gary’s Place sits on a 96-hectare property owned by renowned architect Ed Ledesma of the prominent clan in Negros province.

The hacienda has always been called “punong,” Ilonggo for fishpond, and “Gary’s Place” is in honor of the second of Ledesma’s six children, only son Gary, who was fatally hit by a truck one tragic night while on his way back to the place.

In an e-mail with Lifestyle, Ledesma says: “There came a point in my life when I realized that I could make changes in the way I live and be part of the solution. I have always been a lover of nature… Since I had the land at my disposal, I made a pact with myself to create a forest—that will be my legacy which I hope (but I’m not forcing) my children to continue.”

The property has always been a fishpond—40 ha devoted to bangus farming and 56 ha of mangroves.

The place was originally planted to balete trees. Over the years, Ledesma has planted mahogany, rubber, acacia, mango, narra, kamagong and ylang-ylang, among other trees.

Restaurant

The Ledesma family would gather at Punong for rest and recreation.

One day, in 2004, Ledesma’s daughter, Bing, and her husband, former Side A bassist-songwriter Joey Benin, broached the idea of opening a restaurant in the empty space below the patriarch’s rest house. At the time, Benin had just decided to leave Side A and pursue a hobby, cooking, more seriously.

What started out small, a strictly-by-reservation dining place, has grown by word of mouth.

Benin recalls that he and his kitchen crew would get nervous when the number of customers reached 10. These days, however, five-course lunches and dinners at Punong Gary’s Place are full-house affairs, and with Benin even having time to perform with a guest singer on weekend nights.

Benin’s daughter, Clara, a budding singer-songwriter herself, trained as a barista, and now runs a coffee shop across from the restaurant.

‘Casitas’

You can stay for a night or two, or longer if you wish, in one of eight casitas (small houses) spread out in the property. Originally built for Ledesma’s children, they are now available for stay-in guests.

“In the early ’80s,” Ledesma recounts, “I went into the prawn business that needed caretakers 24/7. Unfortunately this business went kaput all over the world, and I had to go back to bangus farming. My family was growing fast, and since the caretakers’ houses already had foundation and floor slabs where I could build a new structure, that was where I built the casitas.”

The casitas’ design is a story in itself. “The 45-degree roof design, made of fiber-cement (ficem) board, is a takeoff from the bahay-kubo,” says Ledesma.

“All the casitas started off with nipa roofings, but to avoid high maintenance, I decided to experiment with the ficem board because it was cheaper than clay tiles or metal roofing, and it seems to be working well to this day.”

In the center of a fishpond is a dining hut designed just like the casitas.

Farther out on the left side of the property is a lounge called Neng’s Island. Ledesma says it was “conceived out of the two beautiful balete trees that just sprang right off the ground.”

It includes a 25-meter lap pool with a Jacuzzi underneath the shade of the balete tree and a glass-roofed meditation area.

By chance

I discovered Punong Gary’s Place by chance. On my way to cover the 2017 Bacolod Jazz Festival at L’Fischer Hotel, friends took me to Punong where they were staying for the weekend. I ended up staying there, too.

The casita we slept in was big enough for six people, with three large beds attached to each other. It had panoramic floor-to-ceiling glass windows to let the outdoors in.

The shower area had a sunroof, so I felt as if I was taking a bath under the open sky.

Benin’s cooking was a revelation. His seafood pasta in lemon cream sauce and pan-seared sea bass with lemon caper sauce were a tasty celebration of fresh, natural ingredients.

On a lazy afternoon, while classic jazz, pop, folk and R&B played from a Spotify playlist in the restaurant, I found myself clearheaded, free from worry and stress.

Here, in the summertime, the living is easy.

Punong Gary’s Place, Hacienda Tinihaban, Barrio San Jose, Silay City; tel. 09173271729; Facebook Punong Gary’s Place