Villa Epifania, the grand old house of Santa Rita

An all-concrete 1930s mansion that sheltered officers, guerrillas and, later, a Lino Brocka film crew.

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Discover Pampanga Editors · October 2026

Villa Epifania, a 1930s mansion in Santa Rita

Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor on Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · via Wikimedia Commons

At 429 Ocampo Street stands the house Santa Ritans call the Grand Old House of Santa Rita: Villa Epifania, the Guanzon ancestral home.

Concrete in the 1930s

The lot belonged to Don Agapito Guanzon. His son Olympio built a first house there by 1925, then pulled it down for something grander. The new villa, designed by architect Mariano Pineda, went up in 1931 and 1932. It was reportedly the only all-concrete house in town, built with concrete brought in from Guiguinto, Bulacan, at a reported cost of 90,000 pesos.

War and cinema

During the Second World War the house changed hands with the fortunes of war, serving as headquarters for Japanese officers, for guerrillas and for local alcaldes. Decades later it found a new role on screen. Lino Brocka filmed Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang there in 1976, and it was later a backdrop for Tanging Yaman.

Like many old houses, it has its ghost stories. It remains a private home, best seen on a walk along Ocampo Street.