Those who have a chance to visit the Mekong Delta province of Long An are advised to head for a 100-pillar house built in the early 20th century in Long Huu Dong Commune in Can Duoc District.
This is an ancient house built in the style of nha ruong, a popular type of housing in the former imperial capital of Hue using precious wood. Though it is called the 100-pillar house, it has a total of 120 pillars, with 68 of them main pillars.
It was acknowledged as a national cultural and historical relic in 1997.
The house’s owner was Tran Van Hoa, the late head of the council of Can Duoc District of Gia Dinh Province during the French rule. He started building the house in 1898 during the reign of King Thanh Thai.
It took three years to complete the main structure of the house and he spent two more years having the interior completed by popular wood carving artisans from Thua Thien-Hue Province.
The house covers an area of nearly 900 square meters and has a 4,000-square-meter-plus garden.
Tran Thi Ngo is the current owner of the house and the third generation’s grandchild of Tran Van Hoa. The house’s altars, tables and wattles show meticulous carving patterns of tu linh, which means dragon, unicorn, turtle and phoenix, tu tiet, which means flowers of apricots, orchids, daisies and bamboos, and eight kinds of fruit.
Tourists may find moments of peace at the old house of the southern region and listen to interesting stories about history shared by the homeowner.