The Baroque residence, built in the 1920s and located on Guide Street in Taipei’s old area of Dadaocheng, was truly a luxurious mansion in that era.
Taiwan News
Date: 2017/11/23
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Several Taipei City’s cultural officials asked the owners of the
The backyard of the Baroque residence built in the 1920s. (Photo by CNA)
historic residence of Chen Tian-lai (陳天來故居), a municipal historic site, to improve the building’s conditions in three months after finding serious water leakage problems inside the house and tiles peeling off from the exterior walls during an inspection on Thursday.
The Baroque residence, built in the 1920s and located on Guide Street (貴德街) in Taipei’s old area of Dadaocheng, was truly a luxurious mansion in that era. It was the residence of Chen Tian-lai, a wealthy tea merchant. The building not only has a grandiose facade, but its interior is also impressive with handmade carved patterns on the glass and elegant floor tiles. There are even ponds and rockery in the backyard, architectural features characteristic of residences of rich merchants at that time.
However, as ownership of the residence belongs to more than 30 people, who couldn’t reach a consensus on how to maintain and preserve the building, the conditions of the residence have deteriorated over the years, with serious water leakage problems, tiles peeling off from the exterior walls, aerial roots of the trees in the backyard sprawling up the cement exterior walls, and paintings in the house reeking of mold and mildew.
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