Rico & Nena Tantoco: Home, at last, in Sta. Elena
When he was seven years old, Rico Tantoco would accompany his father, Ambassador Bienvenido Tantoco Sr., to the Wack-Wack Golf Course. The young boy would wait for four hours for his father to finish 18 holes instead of playing with his classmates.
“I loved every minute of it — the course, watching my dad and being in the clubhouse,” Rico says.
Being a spectator would go on for four years — the young Rico being exposed to nature, the serenity of the golf course and the camaraderie in the clubhouse — until he turned 11 and began taking lessons and playing golf himself.
Rico has never let go of his golf clubs since.
Little did Ambassador Tantoco know that he had planted what would be a lifelong passion for his only son — one that would serve Rico well when he competed for the Ateneo University golf team, dedicating a chunk of his daily life to practice when he was a teenager.
Decades later, his passion for golf would be the impetus for Sta. Elena Golf & Country Estate, which he envisioned 25 years ago with his wife Nena Tantoco.
At Sta. Elena, first came the golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, an all-weather course that’s been named by Golf Digest as one of the top 100 golf courses outside the US. And now, the 200-hectare residential estate — part of the original 6,000-hectare Canlubang estate — is coming alive with homes being built and residents enjoying their weekend homes outside the city.
Exile, homecoming & family
A few days ago, Rico and Nena Tantoco opened their home Villa Marina (Nena’s Christian name) to friends in media to show how Sta. Elena has developed over the years. The Ambassador was there because as Nena puts it, “It’s not complete if Daddy Benny’s not with us. His presence is like heaven for us.”
There is that sense of profound gratitude, of closeness when Rico, Nena and their daughters are talking about this house. It is mentioned in passing by Nena and daughter Katrina but you realize the significance of “having a family home” when used in the same sentence as “exile.”
Ambassador Bienvenido Sr. and wife Glecy, founder of Rustan’s, and family went on exile after the Edsa Revolution in 1986.
Nena says, “It was very challenging living abroad in different countries and all our children were away, studying, in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. When Rico began to develop Sta. Elena, it signaled the end of our exile. Sta. Elena represents our homeland. It’s the place that brought our family home, it’s where our children and grandchildren come together to eat, to play, to bond, to collaborate with nature and the people that make this place what it is.”
Rico and Nena have seven children: Donnie, Robbie, Gippy, Katrina, Paolo and Bea, and the late Joel. They have 15 grandchildren going 16 (Bea is on the way).
Katrina Tantoco-Lobregat says, “We’ve never really had a home home. This really feels for the first time like our family home, a place where we can ground. We were moving around a lot before, like when I was born, we were living on Tamarind Road in Forbes. As far as I remember, we were in Valle Verde, then we moved to Hong Kong after the revolution. We stayed there for a while and then back to Manila. Then I was off to college in Sta. Clara University.”
Youngest daughter Bea Tantoco-Reyes, who sang professionally until she got married, says that even after their exile, the family never really lived under one roof because the siblings’ age gaps are very wide. “When I was born, Donnie was in college; some were abroad. We were never really complete in one house. So, now, it’s nice to be together under one roof on weekends and other occasions.”
“We have our family branches in different locations,” says Katrina. “It is here that we are all tied together as a family. This is the place where some of our best memories are made, where we heal, where we feel free, where we bond and connect, and experience joy.”
Villa Marina is a 3,000-sqm. home that Rico and Nena completed two years ago and designed by architect Manny Miñana. It has three wings or clusters that are all connected: the front wing has five bedrooms for their children and grandchildren to use over the weekend (some of their children have their own homes in Sta. Elena as well), a lanai and a lap pool; the middle is the living and entertainment area where the family gathers to eat and to bond; and at the back is the couple’s own wing.
You can see the touches of Nena all over the interiors, but for the architecture it was pretty much Rico who set the design.
“My brief to architect Miñana was very simple,” he says. “Let the outside come in, which is why there are no walls to hang paintings on. Your painting is the outside — and it’s so beautiful as it is. After the house was built, that’s when Nena came in to direct the interiors.”
All around the house are shade and bamboo trees, as if enveloping Villa Marina in a warm embrace, so that even on the second floor looking out of the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, all you see are greens. This was the palette of Nena, who used to head The Rustan’s Flower Shop, and she continued this natural setting into the house with cut flowers, native accessories, and furniture that are grandchildren-friendly.
“It’s a family home, it doesn’t really have too many delicate things,” she says pointing to woven baskets that contain all the grandchildren’s playthings. “I don’t want to have to run after my apos to prevent them from breaking stuff.”
The most practical piece of furniture in this house is the famous Mah Jong sofa by Hans Hopfer and manufactured by French brand Roche Bobois, a 10-piece set that one can configure any which way. This piece was an instant classic when it came out in 1971 and today’s design houses such as Missoni and Kenzo have lent their fabrics to bring it up to date.
“My apos jump on it all the time, they play there, sit or sleep on it,” she says.
The lunch that Nena served — set on tables with lush vegetable and flower arrangements by florist Zenas Pineda, who used to work at Rustan’s, — consisted of hearty gourmet comfort food. It started with calamari and scampi, roasted pimiento paté, and bacon, shrimp and cabbage chowder. The main entrees were spread out in the large kitchen equipped with Wolf stovetops and ovens — fish and chips, fried chicken, baby-back ribs, beef pot roast, and mac ‘n’cheese. Desserts were bread and butter pudding, chocolate cake, mango pound cake and sans rival.
As Nena says, Villa Marina is “off the eaten track and no one leaves this house hungry.”
Katrina describes her mom as “the heart and soul of Sta. Elena.” She adds that the most used portion of the house is the pool area with the connecting lanai. “It’s just all day and night. We usually sleep here on weekends, even if not all of us do, it’s a party because there are so many family members.”
Patience, patience
Maybe it was golf that taught Rico Tantoco to be patient. Taught him, too, that things work out best when the timing is perfect, and when it still isn’t to just enjoy the moment.
That waiting lasted 25 years.
Rico explains that the original parcel of land of Sta. Elena and beyond belonged to the Jose Yulo family. “Canlubang Estate is about 6,000 hectares and they split 3,000 to 4,000 hectares among the children.”
This part where the golf course and subdivisions are went to Maria Elena Yulo-Quiros and one of the children married Nena’s sister.
“I think they had 650 hectares and they told me one time, ‘Rico, we want a golf course, can you build one?’ I said, sure. ‘We will give you additional land on the condition that you build a golf course.’ I said, that’s fine.”
Rico didn’t envision a community in the beginning, he was just happy to build a golf course. “A business friend told me, ‘You know, Rico, get that land but hold it for 25 to 30 years and it will become a residential area. Which is exactly what I did. I built a golf course and after 25 years it’s not so hard to sell lots here. That prediction came true. You have to do it at the right time.”
How does he see Sta. Elena in the next 25 years? Rico says, “Residents here will be like the people in New York City who live in apartments during the work week but have a home outside the city. That’s the goal of this place. A lot of the residents here have condos in Makati but want something bigger, something closer to nature but less than an hour away.
“As we add more villages, amenities such as a world-class country club, we hold steadfast to our founding vision of Sta. Elena to create a space with a soul, a place where you can breathe fresh air, where you can connect with loved ones and nature, and where your soul can find its peace.”
Certified as a Cooperative Sanctuary by Audubon International, a society devoted to the conservation of the environment, Sta. Elena passed a strict qualification process to receive this distinction as a nature sanctuary. This citation is a product of over 10 years of reforestation that transformed a once sugarcane plantation into a nature haven. It has become home to a wide variety of birds whose distinct squawks, warbles, chirps and whistles provide a backdrop to this nature haven.
Helping him with the development are Katrina as general manager and Bea as marketing manager.
Residents and members of the golf course have access to the amenities in the estate. A river park; the Big Lake for boating and fishing; Banahaw Fairway Park, where there are benches and exercise equipment; and bike and running trails. Village clubhouses dot the estate where residents spend leisure time with family.
Kids also have their share of activities at the Banahaw Children’s Playground, or at the Fun Farm, which encourages them to love animals as they ride horses, carabaos, play with the ducks and chickens, or feed the bunnies and hamsters.
Katrina says, “Living in the city today has increasingly become a vexation to the mind, body, and soul. Peace has become elusive amid the traffic, pollution, crowding and noise. In fact, finding peace in today’s modern world has become the ultimate luxury. And this is what Sta. Elena offers. It is a place where your soul is at peace.”
And for Rico Tantoco, waiting has paid off. Now he gets to combine his three greatest passions: golf, being with family and planting trees.
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For inquiries on Sta. Elena lots, call its sales director Nerissa Capistrano at 0919-9114616.
Check out the author's travel blog at www.findingmyway.net; follow her on Twitter and Instagram @iamtanyalara.
