ATEGA ANCESTRAL HOUSE

Atega St., Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte

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CABADBARAN in CARAGA Region is an old community its existence can be traced back to 1200 A.D.,Traces of the existence of 12th-century villages could be found along ancient waterways, contemporaneous with the old archaeological sites in Butuan City. Artifacts from these pre-Spanish villages like Chinese ceramics made during the 15th-16th centuries however existed. 

 

Archival records showed that Cabadbaran was first mentioned in history as a small village chosen by Spanish authorities to become a new reduction which they called “La Reunion de Cabarbaran” in 1867. 

 

With its long and eventful history, Cabadbaran City in Agusan del Norte is not wanting in cultural treasures including, I should say, forgotten ancestral houses.  

 

One has but to go several blocks in the town’s población to encounter ancestral houses dignified or intimidating in their grandeur. 

 

Among the most notable are the Mortola, Paduganan, and Alburo ancestral houses. But the most notable is the Atega ancestral house which was built in 1904 by revolutionary leader Don Andres Atega.

 

It is a huge but unassuming white structure from the outside but its interior is awesome that its description is better left to a viewer’s senses rather than on an author’s rhetorics. 

 

Built in 1904, the Atega House was the home of the Atega family that originated from the Spanish Friar Father Pedro Garcia. It was built by a revolutionary leader named Don Andres Atega. 

 

It was originally an “L” shaped house but succeeding generations, and as the family grew, rooms or wings were added that grew to  36 rooms and a garden, including what is described as “a house within a room”. 

 

The interior is a mixture of Filipino, Chinese and European styles, suggestive of the passing period or preferences of the owners.  But it all sums up to classy prosperity.

One of the rumors is about a haunted room that is kept locked. But without mentioning it, my gracious host, Ms. Marilou, however, opened it for me and explained that only those with bad intentions will experience strange phenomena. 

 

The Atega ancestral house is not only a repository of rich culture but the home of talented and beautiful, and wonderful men and women in past and present generations.