ulius Babao's spanking new two-story home has the right gadgets, furniture and artworks. By December it will get the best addition: his perfect bride

YOU'D think that news anchor Julius Babao would be the type of man who'd buy his girlfriend a high-carat ring when he's about to ask, "Will you marry me?" But Julius is not a typical man, not his relationship with TV host Christine "Tintin" Bersola anything typical.

"There was never any proposal," explains Tintin. "It's like, we already knew we were going to end up together anyway."

And so, one October day last year, Julius covered his girlfriend's eyes and led her to a newly built two-story house (with a basement) that took 10 months to finish contraction. "This is the ring," he announced to Tintin. After six years of being an item, they are finally getting married in Antipolo this December.

It's not as if Julius' dream house, located in a quiet gated subdivision in Quezon City, was a total surprise to Tintin. Starting three years ago, when Julius, now 35, decided he was ready to build his own place, he and Tintin would scour bookstores practically every weekend buying books and magazines looking for ideas on the house's look.

It turned out he wanted a very modern house with steel, concrete and glass as dominant elements. It was a good call. The house rises from a sea of greens from empty lots. The living room, with its floor-to-ceiling glass windows, affords a precious, panoramic view of the mountains of Montalban, Rizal.

Of course, the most important room at the moment is the master's bedroom on the second floor, where the couple will finally stay together when they get married.

According to Julius, the room is big enough to accommodate a crib. So, should we be hearing the patter of tiny feet soon?
"Julius wants to have three children," gushes Tintin. "And if that's so, I have to start right away. You know, the biological clock, it's ticking." She is now 33.

And, Julius adds, the two guest rooms in the basement could also be converted into kids' rooms later on. Same goes for the media room on the second floor, which currently houses his Star Wars collection and some hitech audio-visual equipment. He has a five by-eight feet screen projector on one side of the wall.

It is also where pictures taken on the job are displayed, like a photo with Sting, whom he interviewed when the singer was in Manila.

He also has a signed and dedicated picture of Bill Clinton; his uncle was a butler of the former US President.

Julius says he originally wanted the house to be a bachelor's pad, but he changed the design into a family house once he realized he'd be married some day.

The house was initially designed by architect Conrad Onglao and executed by architects Eddie Rebolledo and Arnulfo Torres.

Before he began construction, Julius and Tintin gathered some objects and placed them in a time capsule. These included coins, pictures, rosary beads, a blueprint of the house and rice grains. Of course, he also consulted a fing shui expert who told him the lot was in the shape of the "green carabao sign" and, therefore, lucky.

The view of Momalban, Rizal, is also in the shape of a "mountain dragon," said the expert, and that was lucky as well.

In designing the interiors of the house, Julius was completely hands-on. He asked for a l0-meter high ceiling. He specified the floor-to-ceiling glass panels. He personally bought the sleek black-toned light switches. He made sure the electric outlets retracted from the bleached parquet floor. He shopped for the bathroom fixtures himself.

Tintin also contributed some ideas while the house was being built. She suggested the stainless steel main gate, the look-out glass window in the master's bedroom on the second floor where one could look down into the living room, and the attic which will soon be transformed into her walk-in closet.

She also broached the idea of using dimmer lights in certain parts of the house. A resin replica of her hand is mounted on the foyer wall and is being used by Julius as a keyholder.

And when she moves in? "I will add things, but I will not change anything because I admire and respect Julius' taste," she says.

Building the house wasn't easy, especially when Julius went over his budget. Way over. His hobby-collecting art-indirectly helped him build the house. He sold some pieces. "It was the paintings that saved me," he exclaims.

The kitchen cost a little less than a million pesos. It was custom-fitted for his house by Antares, a local company that deals Italian appliances and cabinets. He discovered them one weekend while he was looking for cabinets for his dressing room. The kitchen is fantastic, and no wonder this is both Julius and Tintin's favorite corner.

Of course, Julius couldn't cook to save his life-well, maybe instant noodles. But Tintin loves to prepare things for him, like pasta, when she's visiting.

The electric stove ("I don't like gas ranges, natatakot ako sa gas leaks," says Julius) was supposed to be in the center of the kitchen. But the Jeng shui expert said it should be in the southwest area of the house, so it was tucked into a corner instead.

For the record, the only ones with whom Julius currently shares his house are two dogs--one of which is a Belgian Malinois named Hector.

He and Tintin are not living together, though she lives nearby with her own family. As Tintin would say, "Why hurry? We will be living together for a lifetime anyway."- -