VietNamNet Bridge – Despite homeowners’ efforts, many garden houses in Dong Nai Province need restoration to prevent them from falling into ruin. 

Historic homes: Many old garden houses in Dong Nai Province have fallen into disrepair and need to be restored by homeowners and local authorities. — Photo ttxtdldongnai.vn

Le Tri Dung, director of the province’s Relic Management Board, said the Mekong Delta province has 100 garden houses, including 13 older houses built before 1900 of significant value that needed to be restored.

"Many traditional-style houses located in Bien Hoa City and Vinh Cuu, Long Thanh and Nhon Trach districts are in danger of further deterioration," he said. "However, only a few homeowners have received support from local authorities and domestic and foreign organisations to restore their houses."

Tran Ngoc Thu Nghia, grand daughter of owner Tran Ngoc Du of a garden house located in Tan Van Commune, Bien Hoa, said her family received financial support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Showa Women’s University in Tokyo in 2004.

The garden house is located on 2,700 square metres of land. It has two main parts: a house built with 36 big wood pillars and a surrounding garden, designed according to traditional architecture style by Vietnamese in the south and to colonial French standards.

Another distinctive feature of the garden house is that all beams and pillars are joined by mortise and tenons, not nails.

"My grandfather spent several years to build our house. Construction was completed in 1900, and it has been upgraded several times," said Nghia, adding that the house was once open to the public free of charge, without support from local tourism firms.

Nghia’s house is now closed because of its poor condition.

Nguyen Thi Diep, owner of a garden house in Thach Phu Commune, Vinh Cuu District, said: “Most owners of garden houses cannot afford to restore their property. We need support from local authorities to preserve the buildings.”

Diep’s property is one of the province’s five oldest garden houses. It was built in 1915 on 1,000 square metres of land.

The house includes several big pillars made of precious solid wood such as cam xe (xylia xylocarpa). It has a brick-tiled roof, and stands on pillars surrounding a garden with trees and flowers.

In 1998, the Dong Nai Museum and HCM City University of Architecture, in co-operation with Showa’s Women University, conducted research on 401 garden houses, including 76 old houses built before 1900, in Dong Nai Province.

The province has lost nearly 300 houses over the last two decades.  

Many owners have sold their houses to outsiders, who often disassemble the houses into small parts to move them for resale.  

“Old garden houses are part of the traditional culture and architecture of Vietnamese. We are working to find ways to help local residents in preservation,” said Dung. 

VNS