Binh Thuy Ancient House, also known as Duong’s ancestor house located on Bui Huu Nghia street, Binh Thuy Ward, Binh Thuy District, Can Tho city. This is a unique architecture with over 100 years old.
The original work was a living house and now is Duong’s ancestor house – worshiping the owners who have built and preserved the house until now.
The Duong family came to settle in the South at the end of the eighteenth century and has gone through six generations. Mr. Duong Van Vi (3rd generation) is the one who chose the land of Binh Thuy, old Tay Do to build a house.
Step through the fence gate outside the street, inside there is a secondary gate like a welcome gate with ancient Asian architecture, wooden frame with a tiled roof. Under the roof, there is a signboard with the words: Phuoc An Hieu – Nha Tho ho Duong.
The first house was built in 1870 with wooden architecture, tiled, to worship ancestors. By the early twentieth century, he rebuilt the house on a larger scale.
In 1904, after his death, his son Duong Chan Ky continued to build it until 1911 to complete it – the current house. The building is located in an area of about 6000m2, opening the road to the east.
In front of the house, there is a large yard with landscape tanks and rockery that are elements of the road and the screen in feng shui.
At the time of building the house, Mr. Duong Chan Ky was a wealthy, educated, and esthetic gout. He embraced the new values of the West and combined the ethnic elements, Asian traditions in building the house.
Easy to see the intersection of two cultures East-West in the architecture. There, the outside house has a Western appearance, but the structure and interior are bold in Eastern colors.
The house has a balanced layout. The width, the house has 5 compartments – 22m wide, the depth has 3 layers: front house, middle house, and back house with a depth of 16m.
Outside walls are brick, the structural system made of wooden frames, roof tiled. The house in the middle of the garden opens to four directions, surrounded by a flower garden.
The 5th generation descendant of the house, Mr. Duong Van Ngon, has a hobby of playing flowers – especially orchids, so the house is also called “Binh Thuy Orchid Garden”.
A bold Western imprint can be seen on the facade decoration. They are the pillars according to the Greek-Roman form, decorative motifs such as flowers, grapes, squirrels …
The door system using shutters is a popular architectural style in human projects. French-built in Vietnam and suitable for the local climate.
In the house, a lot of antique furniture such as incense sticks, tables, chairs, wardrobes are still preserved…; Especially the wooden salon made of LOUIS XV style is currently in the middle of the front house.
Over a century of existence, through many ups and downs of times and wars, the ancient house of Binh Thuy is still fortunate to exist, cared for, preserved, and shined by generations, becoming a precious heritage.
It is a unique architecture of the wealthy class in Can Tho in particular and the South in general, expressing cultural interference in the historical period with many changes.
