While Kinmen County is primarily known for its production of the strong spirit called kaoliang, the county is also home to many townhouses built in the mid-20th century in a particular mix of Chinese and Western styles, two of which are being renovated to maintain the buildings in light of the architectural style’s significance in the county’s development over the years.
In the mid-19th century, many coastal residents in China, as well as in Kinmen, had turned to the comparatively prosperous Malaysian Peninsula, Philippine islands and Indonesia to make their fortunes.
After prospering in the region and coming under the influence of local architectural styles, some Kinmen residents remitted money to be used building Western-style townhouses, with certain aspects of Chinese-style architecture mixed in, while they remained abroad.
Photo: CNA
According to the Kinmen County Bureau of Cultural Affairs, the county boasts 161 townhouses that are built with the unique hybrid style, but many of the houses are owned by foreigners — the descendants of former Kinmen residents who have settled abroad — and have fallen into disrepair.
The two buildings under renovation belonged to Chen Shih-yin’s (陳詩吟) family in Houpu District (後浦) and Tung Yun-yao’s (董允耀) family in Gugang District (古崗), the bureau said.
The Chen townhouse was built in 1933 and designated a county-level heritage site in 2006. Located directly beside the Kueising Tower (魁星樓) in the South Gate area, the townhouse is considered an important cultural asset by the county, the bureau said, adding that it is undertaking emergency repairs — including repairing a caved-in roof and clearing vines from the facade — after years of disrepair.
The Tung family townhouse, also built in 1933, was designed in Singapore and built by locals, the bureau said, adding that it was designated a county-level heritage site in February last year.
Like the Chen family townhouse, its roof has caved in.
The bureau said that the Chen house is to be repurposed into a coffee house once repairs have been completed, adding that it contracted academic Chiang Po-wei (江柏煒) in 2008 to research how to best restore the townhouse to its original state.
The Tung townhouse consulted National Quemoy University department of architecture professor Tseng Yi-jen (曾逸仁) for the repairs and restoration project, adding that the bureau plans to repurpose the townhouse into a workshop and exhibition site for Tung Teng-hsiang (董騰祥), who crafts traditional lanterns called bride’s lamps (新娘燈).
Tung Teng-hsiang is not related to Tung Yun-yao’s family, but the families live in close proximity to each other.
Meanwhile, bureau director Lu Kun-ho (呂坤和) said the bureau decided to step in to prevent further damage from rainwater and has set up a temporary scaffolding around to building to shelter it from the elements.
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