Mandarin's House

About

The Mandarin’s House is an urban palace, a complex of several patio buildings connected through an interior street. It was built in 1869 to serve as family home to Zheng Guangying, an eminent merchant and author. Located on a vantage position when seen from the Inner Harbor, it adopts a discrete position when seen from the city, with its main gate facing the side street and surrounded by smaller buildings. Such urban setting is misleading, as the building seems designed to be used and seen from the inside, where it fully reveals its virtues, with a rich sequence of spaces, courtyards, gardens, architectural details, and decorative motifs with eastern and western inspirations.