Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
14 Leith Street Penang, 10200, Malaysia
Phone :+60 4-262 0006
The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is located at 14 Leith Street, 10200 George Town, Penang, Malysia. The mansion’s indigo-blue outer wall makes it a very distinct building in the area.
The Circa 1880s mansion built by the merchant Cheong Fatt Tze at the end of 19th century has 38 rooms, 5 granite-paved courtyards, 7 staircases & 220 vernacular timber louvre windows. The architecture of the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion however originates from the Su Chow Dynasty Period in China. Other features of the house include Gothic louvred windows, Chinese cut and paste porcelain work, Stoke-on-Trent floor tiles made of encaustic clay in geometric pieces all shaped to fit to a perfect square, Glasgow cast iron works by MacFarlane’s & Co. and Art Nouveau 48 stained glass windows. The Cheong Fatt Tze mansion was originally built with careful attention to the principles of Feng Shui.The domestic annexe is built in front of it to prevent any road being built to create a T-Junction in front of it; it has water running through a meandering network of pipes that begin from the eaves of the roof, channelled through the upper ceiling, down the walls collecting in the central courtyard before being channelled away from the property via a similar network of pipes, in this case, underneath the entire flooring system and is built with a step in the middle to create a slope (to ride on the dragons back).
The distinctive blue colour of the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion is the result of mixing lime with natural blue dye made from the Indigo plant. The blue was very popular in the Colonial period and the dye was imported from India to Penang by the British. The lime-wash was very effective in a tropical weather as it absorbed moisture and cooled the house whilst dispelling moisture without damage to the structural integrity of the walls. Though white was the most easily available colour, the indigo-blue was chosen as the former is a colour synonymous with death for the Chinese.
The mansion was purchased from Cheong Fatt Tze’s descendants in 1989 by a group of local Penang individuals to save the edifice from encroaching development and possible demolition. While it remains until now, a private-residence, the property operates as a 16 Room Bed & Breakfast-cum-museum as part of the adaptive reuse of an ongoing restoration project which has won awards from UNESCO. Tours are offered in English three times a day to central parts of the house.
Source : Wikipedia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzkLp3sv2fQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ1Ewn5HCGQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxjq-oMe51U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMZ7updMLls
Reviews
Visiting hours :
There are daily guided heritage tours of the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion (in English). Tours start at 11am, 1.30pm and 3pm. The mansion is not open to public outside these hours
Entry fee : Adult RM16 and child RM 8
Getting there : To get to the Blue Mansion, take a Rapid PG bus ride from the center of Georgetown. Be sure to take the one that’s heading to the Chulia Street area (bus numbers CAT, 103, 204 and 502 should take you there).
Rate this article