The Mariano Ramos Ancestral House is the ancestral home of the late Don Mariano Ramos, first appointed Presidente Municipal of Bacolod City, Philippines. It was built in the 1930s and its architecture is a combination of Castilian and Tuscan traces. It comprises three storeys including the tower room, known as the mirador.
Being the second tallest structure in Bacolod City, the house became the first choice of the commanding officers of the Imperial Japanese Army when they set up their command in Negros in World War II. From this house, General Takaeishi Kono directed the entire Japanese occupation forces encompassing more than 20,000 troops and eight airfields in Negros.
The Mariano Ramos Ancestral House is located on the short stretch of Burgos Street, once known as “Millionaires’ Row”. It was built in 1937 by an Architect Mendoza from Manila for Don Mariano Ramos. The Castillan and Tuscan influences and touches were the request of Don Mariano to his architect.
The most prominent feature of the house is the three-storey octagonal tower which gave the owners a panoramic view of the city and the surrounding landscape. At the rear portion of the house is a rounded balcony adjacent to the master bedroom.
Don Mariano Ramos loved to entertain. Many elegant parties were held here attended by the creme de la creme of Bacolod society and visited by both local and national government officials. One such guest was Mariano’s close friend and classmate, Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon.
Legendary in those days were his twenty or more cars of different makes chauffeured by Spanish mestizo and Filipino drivers.
The clan descending from Don Mariano Ramos and his wife Josefa Villanueva include notable people in Bacolod City. Among them, the late Raymundo Ramos Dizon, Jr., former mayor of Bacolod City, and Bro. Rolando R. Dizon, FSC, once a president of the La Salle Schools in the Philippines. A great-grandson, advertising executive and Negrense visual artist, Lloyd Tronco also grew up in this house.