From a thousand Santas to Christmas treasure galore, this makes the No. 1 Santa Claus museum in the Philippines, one of the highlights of Jardin de Miramar in Antipolo City. It has been featured in TV shows like Umagang Kay Ganda & Unang Hirit, local newspapers & magazines like the Philippine Star & Disney Princess & on international media like Reuters & Associated Press.
The Casa Santa Musem, a 365-day exhibit aims to give children the magic of Christmas which they carry on to adulthood. So it’s Everyday Christmas at the museum consisting of more than 3,700 items with Christmas & Santa Claus themes & motifs from different countries around the world. It’s a wondrous sight to see during the Holidays & even during the other parts of the year.
Just a bit of trivia about Casa Santa Museum: did you know that the smallest collection of Santa here is Coca Cola’s 6-pc Santa which is just 1.5cm in height? Did you know that the most expensive is Swarovski bought in an airport in Amsterdam? The cheapest one? A paper cut out bought in China in the early 1990s. These added to the total cost of entire Santa collection conservatively amounting to PhP8 million.
The original house built in the 1950s was remodeled by Arch. Rosario ‘Ning” Encarnacion-Tan in 1992. The Santa collection started in 1994. Arch. Tan at that time did not want the house to look like a city house so she incorporated lattices in the ceilings, pointed eaves & painted walls of mango fruits/leaf colors. She came out with a postmodern eclectic style which in hindsight was perfect to house the tropical Casa Santa.
In 2008 the façade was muralled to simulate Santa’s house by Alfred Galvez, the best muralist in town. In the high ceiling inside the Casa Santa, muralist Galvez painted a flying Santa on a sleigh with gifts on a superimposed window from the trusses of the ceiling.
The owners traveled to more than 90 countries & in each of these, there was a representational Santa bought except for some that included Antarctica. There are other countries, like Myanmar, which is a Buddhist country & do not believe in St. Nicholas/Santa. Therefore, the owners need to innovate to find a representational one. It was their heavenly gods dressed like Santa with caps & beards.
In 2014, an upgrade of more dramatic lights was designed by international light designer, Shoko Matsumoto.
In 2015, the Christmas Village or Cuarto de Pueblo Chico became one of the highlights at the Casa Santa Museum. It was added to complement the Santa collection. While it’s not as jolly & lively as the Santa Claus that we know, it gave a different perspective to the Casa Santa Museum collection. It shows a magical Christmas town straight out of a children’s storybook. The houses were collected in a span of 5 years. Jardin’s light designer, Shoko Matsumoto, came in to do the finishing touches.
The “Fabrica de Juguetes” (Toy Factory) is the Casa Santa’s latest feature section opened in 2019. An extension on the 2nd floor loft of the house, the Toy Factory is a masterplan by the Italian wood craftsman/artist Giacomo Tierra. It is a room where the children’s Christmas gifts are being created by Santa’s elves. It shows guests how Santa Claus manages his team of elves creating toys made of different materials. Guests will have a glimpse of how the elves are working on their different toy projects at the different times across the world as shown by the different clocks on the wall. It even shows the kitchen where Santa’s elves eat their meals.
Inspired by the story of Dr. Seuss, the Casa Santa museum believes that Christmas is not complete without the peculiar Christmas-hating character, the Grinch. Also located on the 2nd floor of the house, the Grinch’s room or Cuarto de Grinch opened in 2020 to look like a cave, seemingly on a mountaintop. As a hater of Christmas, the Grinch’s room consists of just a few pieces of furniture such as his bed & the door. A life-size figure of him completes the scene.
Did you know that the word “LEGO” is derived from the Danish word, “leg godt”, which also means “play well”? Located inside the Cuarto De Dormir or Santa’s bedroom, the lego wall looks like a window and invites you to peek into different seasons around the world. The lego pieces portray the people & the events happening all around the globe. Papa Santa uses this lego wall as a map to see all of the activities & events before finally starting his journey with his reindeers.
The Casa Santa Museum is open daily for groups of ten (10) & above at PhP250 per head. But on weekends (Saturdays & Sundays), guests can visit without minimum no. of persons. Prior appointment is encouraged though. Included on the tour are free use of the Galera playground & free tour of the Sylvanna tree maze.
The Casa Santa Museum is located inside the beautiful gardens of Jardin de Miramar in Antipolo at 279 Buliran Road, Brgy. San Isidro. It's just 30 minutes drive away from Metro Manila.