MANILA, Philippines?Inspired by Versace, film and TV producer Donna Villa describes the home she shares with husband, komiks creator and movie director Carlo J. Caparas, and their two children, CJ and Peach, in a posh village in Muntinlupa.

Donna V, as she is fondly called by Carlo J, is passionate about home interiors. ?I?m also into real estate.? Building and selling houses is her hobby, she explains.

If you ask Carlo J, however, this latest address reflects Donna V?s personality. ?It?s her?very glamorous. If I were to build my dream house, it?d be a simple log cabin.? Still, Carlo admits, he has allowed Donna?s imagination to go ?wild? in decorating the three-story home.

She herself says she envisions the place as a den of luxury. She has filled it with her favorite things, mostly trinkets and memorabilia gathered from trips here and abroad.

?I always bring home souvenirs, preferably things that are old and memorable. Things that would last more than a lifetime, and forever remind us of the good times we shared in our travels,? she relates.

Standing like silent sentinels at the entrance are two red copper cheetahs from Italy?so life-like, they could confuse the family pets.

On the porch is an art work from Sweden, made of baked porcelain and depicting Montezuma building Aztec pyramids.

Strewn all over the living room are crystal parrots, horses, peacocks and other creatures?a virtual menagerie by Murano.

Several antique imajens?including the Nuestra Señora del Rosario?are from Europe.

Ancient

The foyer features intricately decorated Chinese vases that are ?hundreds of years old.?

Donna V is especially fond of the colorful crystal chandeliers (circa 1930s) from France. ?Instead of jewelry, I collect chandeliers, which are also good investments. They?re made of Cliché stones.?

In daughter Peach?s red-themed sitting room, there?s a ?working? jukebox from abroad.

There?s an eclectic, international feel to the place. ?We?re the Marco Polo family,? Donna V quips.

The Caparases have embarked on African safaris and scuba diving expeditions in the Tubbataha Marine Park.

They have ?opposite? personalities, Donna V admits, but they share a passion for the sea.

Apart from a huge aquarium teeming with marine life (including fresh water sharks), Donna V. has displayed several crystal fish figures, also by Murano, all over the house. In contrast with these fresh and glass fishes is a trio of dried puffer fish out in the patio.

By the pool, there?s a bronze sculpture of a mermaid and merman from Italy.

?She?s the mermaid; I?m the siyokoy (merman),? Carlo J jokes.

?When I was 14, I ran a fishing business,? Donna V recounts. ?That?s how I learned to dive. I?ve always been comfortable in the water.?

Carlo J grew up in Pasig, by the banks of the river immortalized by heroes and poets. ?When I was young, my friends and I played patintero in the river,? he recalled. ?When Donna showed me the beaches in Cebu, her home province, I was overjoyed.?

As though he finally found home.

The couple dreams of retiring by the sea.

?I?m eyeing an island near Mactan,? he says.

(E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com)