Early Philippine churches were built of native materials such as bamboo, wood and nipa before they were constructed using sturdier materials such as stone, bricks and hardwood. However, the tradition of building houses of worship using native materials prevail to this day, particularly chapels in far-flung areas, where these materials are readily available, or in places where using these are the owner's preference.

Some examples are the Chapel of the Cartwheels (wood and cartwheels) of the Gaston family in Manapla, Negros Occidental, and the quaint chapel of wooden planks located in the highland barangay of Lunotan in Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental. Another interesting example is the one located in the barangay of Lilimasan in San Carlos City, Pangasinan.

After attending the solemn religious declaration of the Church of Santo Domingo in the city as a Minor Basilica, this writer and artist Ed Lantin visited the said village on a Volkwagen buggy driven by their local host Sidney Soriano for the purpose of touring the said edifice.

The barangay's chapel, dedicated to Saint Francis Gil de Frederich, sits on a property donated by Soriano's father, the nonagenarian Inocencio, a retired United States Navy personnel.

What makes this structure unique is the use of buri (Corypha utan) lumber and bark, an unusual construction material. It is possibly the only one of its kind in Pangasinan or possibly even in the country that generously once utilized buri in construction.

Properly treated, the buri materials were used in the chapel's walls, beams, pews (with mahogany wood), backdrop of the main altar image that is a Crucified Christ, priest's chair, base of the tabernacle and lighting fixtures. The lectern and candelabra are of madre de cacao (Gliricidia sepium) while the altar table is of mahogany.