Ogan

“Located directly opposite the Garcia House, another mighty mansion is concealed behind tall trees that surround it on all sides. Located on a large plot on Rocha Street corner Hontanosas Street, the OGAN MANSION was built probably during the 1930s and was originally owned by John Ogan, a wealthy American businessman, who established the first Bohol Land Transportation Company in 1923. Originally purely residential, it now contains the offices, classrooms, and prayer hall of the Royal Christian School, a private elementary school. This huge mansion is less remarkable for its architectural detail than for its size and extraordinarily high rooms. Built on a roughly square footprint, with an extension at the back, the main wing’s front facade is dominated by a massive, two-storey entrance porch, accessed by a low, concrete, grand staircase. Above it, the former sala protrudes forward, topped by a massive pediment gable and supported only by two slender square posts. Running all around the upper floor and the porch, a media agua, supported by carved wooden brackets, protects the wide window openings from rain and sun. These, and the wooden turned balusters in front of the ventanillas, are the only decorative features of the main wing. At the back, however, the upper floor of the rear wing contains elaborately carved arches in floral design, topped by an intricately carved transom board, combining flowers and leaves with geometric motifs.”

Text from the book Casa Boholana: Vintage Houses of Bohol, by Erik Akpedonu and Czarina Saloma, 2011