Jesus Padilla's stone house at Bale Batu
How an Arayat artist built a home out of crushed mountain rock, inspired by the temples of Angkor.
✓ Reviewed by our editors
Discover Pampanga Editors · October 2026
Illustrative photo. Photo: JGBlue1509 on Wikimedia Commons · Public domain / CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons
At the foot of Mount Arayat, in Barangay Baliti, stands a house that looks as if it had been carved out of the mountain. That is almost what happened.
Built from the mountain
Bale Batu, the stone house in Kapampangan, was designed and built by local artist Jesus Padilla. His material was cement mixed with pulverised rock from Mount Arayat itself. His model was Angkor Wat, the great temple complex of Cambodia.
Visiting
The house welcomes visitors from 6am to 5pm, for a fee of about PHP 50. It sits beside Gintung Pakpak Ecopark, with its groves and reservoir, and Pau Falls is a short way off, so it is easy to make an afternoon of it.
See the Bale Batu listing.
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More in Arayat
Culture
Arayat's old houses of Paralaya
Behind the 1753 church, a short street of colonial houses and a chapel tells Arayat's story as an old Pampanga town.
History
Bunduk ning Alaya: the mountain that watches over Arayat
Sacred to the old Kapampangans, a getaway for President Quezon and now a protected landscape: the many lives of Mount Arayat.
Things to do nearby
Attractions
General Jose Alejandrino Monument
Monument to Arayat's hero General Jose Alejandrino, propagandist and later senator and Pampanga governor, at the town hall.
Attractions
Samia-Santos House and Santa Martina Chapel
Colonial-era Samia-Santos residence, known locally as Bahay Antigo, facing the Spanish-era Santa Martina Chapel.
Attractions
Medina Ancestral House, Arayat
Spanish-era private residence from 1840 on P. Tan Street, also called the Calo-Medina house.
Where to eat nearby
Bakeries
Balagtas Bread & Cake House
Arayat bakery named among the town's well-known food places.
Bakeries
Agnes Pantig Puto Seko
Arayat maker of puto seko, listed among the town's famous food names.
Budget Eats
Erwin's Sisigan
Sisig eatery in Arayat, named by Let's Go Pampanga among the town's well-known places to eat.