right at home
With its mix of Singaporean modernity and Filipino warmth, Doctors Z and Aivee Teo have built a home that reflects good taste, respect for tradition, and a love for family
Z also shares that he likes to move the art pieces around and to mix and match them around the house. “Sometimes, Aivee and I will come home late at night and decide to move a piece here or there, and then we’ll hang it somewhere and sit down to enjoy it,” he says. This “habit” extends to their clinics, where he also sometimes brings the pieces. “Art brings life to whatever place you’re in,” he shares.
One of the home’s noticeably distinct characteristics is its structure. What greets you is not a typical front lawn, but a mesmerising acrylic pool that is by all accounts the first of its kind in Manila. “The pool is the highlight of our home, so we didn’t want it to be in the back,” Aivee says. “It also makes the front feel more open.” Flipping the traditional structure likewise helped the couple achieve their goal of creating an urban resort getaway. “Again, it’s something very modern. At night, the blue acrylic pops and it’s like looking at an aquarium,” Z says.
The marble flooring is another example of how meticulously they chose the materials. The Teo home makes use of Carrara marble, which originated in Italy and is famous for its white, blue-grey hues and soft veining which combine to give a timeless look. The material was flown from Tuscany to Singapore, where they cut the marble pieces based on the house’s floor plan. Z and Aivee personally oversaw
Despite their preference for contemporary design, Aivee felt the house needed “something old” to bring in that spark of tradition
the assembly of the tiles in the marble factory, which were then numbered and shipped to Manila. “If you check out the floors, the way the grains run in the marble aren’t random. They’re intentionally heartshaped,” Z says. “The materials used in the house make for a unique story as well. Some of the stones are from Greece, the copper plates and acrylic are from America.”
Despite their preference for contemporary design, Aivee felt the house needed “something old” to bring in that spark of tradition. For her, it was a 30-yearold table from her mother, which you immediately see when you enter the house. “My mum gave it to me when I moved into my condominium a few years ago,” Aivee shares. “It’s important for me to have it in my home and has made me realise that I don’t want everything to be totally new.” She adds that it also helps to break the too-modern look of the house and makes it feel more “lived in.”
While the couple’s eye for detail is apparent, their philosophy of what make something truly beautiful goes beyond furniture, fine art, and structure. “The most important thing is that you’re happy, and that you have a reason to smile at what you see at home,” Aivee says. A typical weekend morning consists of having a family breakfast in the spacious lanai, with their three kids going for a swim afterwards. Sunday evenings have become precious memories: barbecuing marshmallows and eating steak on the roof deck, followed by a movie in the TV room with the kids. “My favourite spots are my dressing room, because that’s where I am most of the time, and the secondfloor TV room, where the family hangs out,” Aivee shares. Meanwhile, Z’s favourite room is the den. “When I sit here, I have a full view of everything: the pool, the living room, the kitchen, the lanai, my art pieces.”
Since they moved in, the Teos have also started to open their house more for entertaining, including play dates and pool parties for the kids, and their own grown-up dinners. Despite the foreign design, everybody has said that theirs is a house that truly feels like home. “For me it’s the love and warmth, and the relationships we’re building with our kids,” says Z. “When people come over, they feel that it’s more than just a beautiful structure or venue—it’s a happy place.”