Panoramic doors/windows wrap around the living room space of the Gonzalez’s home. (Photo by TheDiarist.ph)
Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez is easily one of the most beautiful Filipinas. She has kept her looks, her physique well toned by yoga, pilates, squash, tennis through the years, her style that is not attention-grabber, just quiet sporty elegance. But what makes this model, fashion accessories designer and former TV sitcom actress a cut above the rest is that she is a beauty inside out.
Not only does she lead a healthy lifestyle (she’s not into “left-to-right” photo socials and not into night life), she also has a healthy attitude, a fun company to her circle of friends, the same fashion friends she and husband Mon have had for decades. She has humor instead of conceit, taste instead of whims.
One of our memorable, fun dinners in 2023 was hosted by Tweetie and Mon in their well-architectured and well-designed home. Mon Gonzalez is an architect whose family has been in the construction industry for some time—thus the beautiful distinctive design that answers the need and lifestyle of the couple and their brood of four.
View of garden a beautiful backdrop in the living room (Photo by TheDiarist.ph)
Another view of living room (Photo by TheDiarist.ph)
We always admire a home meant to be lived in, not to be shown off. That’s the Gonzalez’s home, livable but with a design aesthetic that is enviably contemporary and destined to be timeless. The ground level of this two-story house is wrapped around with panoramic windows and sliding doors that let in the view of the garden. The boundary between the outdoors and the indoors is invisible, enabling the sunlight or the night sky dictate the mood of the house. The ambiance of the social/living areas on the ground level changes depending on the time of day—bright and sunny during the day, lambent and soft at nightfall, dictated by ambient lighting.
The lightness and transparency of wood and glass enhance the solid concrete of the vast structure. So you don’t feel cooped-up. It’s airy and breezy.
Birthday honorees Randy Ortiz (seated, left) and Henri Calayag, with hosts Tweetie (far left) and Mon Gonzalez (2nd from right), guests, from left, Thelma Sioson, Rey Lanada, Jing Monis, JC Buendia, Patrice Ramos Diaz, Marco Protacio
Waiting for Randy Ortiz and JC Buendia, Tweetie with guests, from left, seated, Thelma Sioson, Marco Protacio, Jing Monis, Henri Calayag; standing, Rey Lanada, Patrice Ramos Diaz
Function combines with design, based on the lifestyle of the Gonzalezes. The couple and their young brood invite friends over. The dining room connects to a bar/wine room where guests can do cocktails before dinner. The living room has a vast minimalist modular sofas—inviting even for a rowdy bunch. There’s a sliding border at the foot of the stairway, which the “parentals” can close (seal off, actually) after everyone is checked in and accounted for. Talk about how parental guidance is built into the design and structure. And—most important—the kitchen with breakfast table and everyday dining table is huge, perfect to feed the big appetite of a growing brood.
Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez’s simply natural table setting
Tweetie’s kitchen does a kare kare that’s become popular among her friends. That was how this dinner some time in August came about—we all wanted Tweetie’s kare kare. She also served fried lumpia and the guests brought potluck adobo. It was a fun birthday dinner for leading fashion designer Randy Ortiz, who was to have a show at year’s end, and top hairstylist Henri Calayag, both of them Tweetie and Mon’s longtime friends.
Randy Ortiz and Henri Calayag making a wish
Fashion designer Patrice Ramos Diaz, who’s been away from the fashion industry, joined the company, and said, who knows, she could go back to designing and making clothes soon.
Beautiful home, beautiful hostess, loyal fun friends, kare kare and such, what else did we have? Jokes, lots of jokes.—Thelma Sioson
