SOMETHING new in singer-actress Sharon Cuneta?s city home in Wack-Wack: Echoing in the usually serene hallways is the almost rhythmic wailing of an infant. Now, that?s one powerful set of lungs.

The crying boy is this ?Crying Lady?s? latest bundle of joy. Sharon, known as the country?s Megastar, talks fondly of her adopted nine-month-old son, Miguel Samuel Mateo. ?Having a baby in the home is always magical. Everyone?s more excited to come home. It?s a new beginning for all of us,? she tells Living Stars.

Her young daughters Frankie, 10, and Miel, 6, are smitten as well. ?They often sleep in Miguel?s room,? says mom, quite pleased.

Sharon describes this city home (she has a rest house in Laguna) as her ?haven and sanctuary.? Because of the unique demands of celebrity, she guards this private world fiercely. ?The people I love live here. The public may own me outside [but] here, you need to get invited. You need a visa to enter,? she jests.

She recalls one Halloween party when she was shocked to find a stranger in the living room. ?I was offended. Even my oldest, dearest friends don?t take such liberties.?

Comfort zone

This three-story structure means many things to Mega?the last frontier of normalcy in her far-from-normal show biz existence; a comfort zone where she can spend the whole day in her jammies watching movies in the living room or throwing tea parties with her girls in the masters? ante-room; and, quite tellingly, one big museum for works by Filipino masters? and also one big library to store books from all over the world.

?I love this house,? she enthuses. ?I found the property before I got married [to Sen. Francis Pangilinan]. I started building it before ?Madrasta? (in 1996, for which she won grand-slam Best Actress awards).?

With the help of architect-designer Ramon Antonio, she realized her vision for the home, which was renovated in 2003.

?I don?t like loud colors,? she says. ?I prefer muted tones, which I find soothing.? Her only concessions to vibrancy are the red pineapple print drapes, with matching pillow covers, in the private living room. ?Just a touch of orange, red and yellow, for a tropical look.?

The theme is unmistakably Asian. ?When we renovated, I was over my infatuation with French design. I asked Ramon to turn the house into a Thai resort,? Sharon recounts.

Art collection

She filled the house with paintings by Filipino artists?a collection whose pièce de résistance is Juan Luna?s ?El Dios Pan.? Explains the singer, ?It depicts Pan, god of music.? With the help of artist Claude Tayag, Sharon acquired the painting over a decade ago from a private collector in Madrid. ?It?s only right that a Luna was returned to the Philippines,? she says now.

Tayag made the easel on which the Luna sits below the winding staircase. He also created the bed in the master bedroom.

Beside the Luna is ?Mother and Child? by painter-priest Armand Tangi. ?I saw it at an exhibit in Le Soufflé this year. I brought it home because, at that time, Miguel had just entered my life,? relates Sharon.

Another meaningful artwork is the painting of Katipunan revolutionaries by Antonio Leaño. ?It reminds me of my husband Kiko who is so patriotic. Even if he is unrecognized, he will fight for the country... like the nameless, faceless men in the painting.?

Displayed in the dining area are prized works by Macario Vitalis and Fernando Amorsolo.

She feels strongly about surrounding her children with works by Filipino masters. ?So they?ll grow up knowing that the Filipino masters, and all Filipino artists, in fact, are at par with the best all over the world. So they know that inspiration, hard work and discipline can produce the most beautiful things.?

Dream house

The dining area?s centerpiece is a 14-seat table made from a 98-year-old piece of wood marked with fleurs de lis.

She got the wood, along with the framed Gregorian chant lambskin parchments by the staircase and the cherub-sunburst wooden sculpture in the foyer, in Paris in the late 1990s.

But though this haven is filled with her favorite things, she says, ?I?ve yet to build my dream house? maybe bigger, but not necessarily. Since my family is expanding, we may need more space.?

Eldest daughter KC has moved out, but sometimes sleeps over in the guest house by the pool.

Ah yes, the pool. The huge infinity pool inspired by the one in Palawan?s Amanpulo resort has disappeared. Where did it go? ?I wanted an extra patch of grass,? says Mega. ?I figure, a smaller pool would do for us. My children are not training for the Olympics naman. The old pool was way too big.?

True calling

The kitchen, although newly refurbished, with state-of-the-art Viking ovens and stoves and a Sub-Zero ref, is, likewise, not yet her dream cooking space.

?This is exactly the same as the one in Laguna,? she says. ?I wanted four ovens so we could cook meals and bake cakes and pastries simultaneously.?

That, it seems, is her true calling: homemaker. She taps into this passion in her new program, ?Sharon@Home,? to be aired on ABS-CBN?s Lifestyle Channel starting Sept. 18.

The show, she says, is a companion piece to her glossy magazine of the same title (published by ABS-CBN Publishing). She lights up: ?Now, this is my dream show.? She describes it as a cross between Martha Stewart and Katie Brown, with a little Rachael Ray thrown in.

?In the early 1990s, when not a lot of people knew who Martha Stewart was, I was buying her magazines,? Sharon recounts. ?I also like Ina Garten, Giada De Laurentiis, Nigella Lawson and Rachel Ashwell of Shabby Chic.?

She sums up the show and the mag as, ?Very me. I?m not a chef, but I am a cook.? Her relatives, particularly older brother Chet (who loves her roast beef), would insist she?s a good one.

Dog house? really?

Sharon built a dog house for the family?s six pets: Grandpa the Shih Tzu, Popo and Mochi the Chow Chows, Kaya the Maltese, Bea and Cupcake the Beagles.

The dog house is equipped with air-conditioner, electric fan... ?And their own toilet,? the master says. ?What?s the use of having pets if you can?t take care of them properly? They also went to obedience school, the BetterDog Canine Center. They run around the garden every day, fertilizing the plants.?

Precious time

Another true calling for Mega: home builder. Her new project consists of six specially designed townhouses in Quezon City called The 6 on Rallos. ?It will be the greenest compound in that area. It will be four stories high, with an attic for storing stuff. We always forget the importance of an attic.?

Spoken like a true pack rat, yes. Her own attic, which has the same floor area as every level of the house, is a storehouse of souvenirs (movie posters, vinyl records, costumes, tons of photographs) from her storied 32-year show biz career.

Certainly one lesson newcomers could pick up from Mega is how to build not just a multi-media career, but also a home?uh, several homes.

Yet another dream project is a rest house in the island-province of Bohol. ?It will be like a small resort on an oceanfront property,? she says.

She is naturally drawn to the ocean. Immediately after the ?Mega Drama? concert earlier this month, she and husband Kiko went on a much-needed beach holiday in Koh Samui, Thailand. ?Our nth honeymoon,? she says.

Making time for people she cares about, in a place she also loves dearly: For Mega, few things are more precious.

E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com