A house made of stone doesn’t sound like that much of a spectacular place, I have to admit. However, wait until you visit Luna’s Bahay na Bato, which in translation means ‘stone house’.
Built in Luna in La Union in the Philippines this really is a house and grounds, made of stone.
The grounds at Luna’s Bahay na Bato consist of large stone carvings such as hearts, flowers, animals and funny characters. Even down to the paving slabs, you are surrounded by quirky art. It inspires you however unartistic you are.
The major attraction to Luna’s Bahay na Bato is the scenic pebbled beach which has sadly turned into an industry. Many locals line the beach with piles of pebbles graded in size and colour which are transported all over the Philippines.
However, Luna’s Bahay na Bato uses this amazing backdrop to surround and built a gallery to showcase local artists whilst causing minimal impact to the surrounding beach.
Luna’s Bahay na Bato compound contains two houses, sculptures and a beautiful garden to stand in whilst looking down the endless pebbles to the crashing waves, bringing even more pebbles to the shore. The top balcony of the main house gives you a beautiful bird’s eye view of the strangely soft, but rugged coastline.
Within this building you can also buy snacks and drinks to escape the heat as, even with the sea breeze, after exposure to the sun the rocks radiate heat.
The stone house was built in 2000 as a rest home for Dr. Edison and Dra. Purita Noble. Following interest from the town’s Mayor, they decided to open their doors to tourists in 2014. With over 10,000 visitors in the first year, Bahay na Bato really has put Luna on the tourist trail.
The house can open for private occasions as well as overnight stays where you can sit under the stars around a fire pit listening to the crashing waves. Such an enchanting experience.
Luna’s Bahay na Bato could just be one of my favourite places I have visited in the Philippines.
What do you think of Luna’s Bahay na Bato? What has been the best showcasing of local artists that you have seen? Please comment below. Don’t forget to subscribe (It’s free!) to my blog for more posts like this and interesting travel tips.
Tips
1/ From San Fernando La Union, take jeepney to Luna or jump on one of the passing buses coming from Manila as below. To get to Luna from Manila or Baguio, take a bus to Laoag, Vigan or Abra. Stop at Balaoan, La Union and take a tricycle to Bahay na Bato.
2/ Admission is PhP 20 while kids who are below 4 years of age are free of charge. It is open daily from 6 am to 8 pm.
3/ I wouldn’t advise swimming at Luna. The pebbled beaches cause huge crashing waves so that swimming is very dangerous.
4/ Luna is a great place to visit Tangadan falls from.
Check out my post here about this great hike.
5/ If you are staying in La Union then I would strongly recommend you stay at Nature’s Healing Home near San Fernando City. They can give you the telephone number of a driver to take you to Luna or you can follow the instructions above to take the bus/jeepney. Please see the link below.
Book to stay at Natures Healing Home:
Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliated link which means I receive a small amount of money when you use my link at no extra cost to yourself. However I would only ever advise places that I truly believe are worth visiting. All thoughts and recommendations in this post are my own.
Artwork with stone is so interesting. I thought the Philippines is all about beaches thanks for sharing such an amazing place. Suck cute pictures of the foot there and stone house sounds so inviting.
I too made the mistake that all of the Philippines are sandy beaches. There are so many amazing dramatic coast lines too
Putting the map at the bottom is so useful, I was about to google where this was! The artwork with the stones is incredible, the first image you posted looks like it was difficult to build. I love the house with the stone floor too, it’s so unique.
Thanks, I have just worked out how to Embed the map so I think I will do this for most of my posts 🙂
So cool you wrote a post about this place! I’ve been thinking about going to the Philippines for so long and I think this is such a great idea! The plan I love the most is staying for a night and sitting around the fire while I see the stars 😀 People say that the country is amazing to do that.
Thanks for sharing!
The night sky is beautiful!!! I really recommend the Philippines
The artwork is inspiring – the creativity to make such beautiful designs is a gift. I’m pretty sure if I visited, I’d be buying all sorts of sculptures and having them shipped home!
Love the pawprints in the stone! They look so cute 🙂 What’s amazing about the Philipines is that there are so many islands to see!!
So interesting. Love the pictures. The art work is beautiful. I don’t how I would go walking on the pebbles all the time.
This does look quite unique. I love the fact that there is nobody else in your photos, as if you were visiting on your own (maybe you were but I doubt it somehow) and it helps to showcase the place. Definitely a good unusual attraction.
What a beautiful setting. The pictures are lovely! I have never visited the Philipines but have always wanted to. The Bahay na Bato sounds like a really unique an interesting location. Great post. Thanks for sharing.
It really was beautiful 🙂