Jùkuíjū 聚奎居 is an abandoned mansion in Wūrì 烏日, Taichung 台中, built in 1920 by a wealthy businessman and landowner by the name of Chén Shàozōng 陳紹宗. The architecture is a combination of the traditional Taiwanese sānhéyuàn 三合院 (an inverted U-shaped building with three parts surrounding a central courtyard) and the baroque revival style of the Japanese colonial era. It is located on the margins of the city along an otherwise unremarkable lane in a poor, industrial part of town next to a military base, looking completely out of place in space and time.
I don’t usually make an entirely new thread when I share stuff from my blog… but the history of this place is pretty interesting and it’s a fairly popular spot (for Taichung anyway) so I hope no one minds.
I like the photo with the rattan chair. And the tree-through-wall stuff. Looks like a place that could be renovated and given a new purpose, like so many old buildings in Taiwan. Not sure about the location, though. Is it far away from anything of interest?
I predict an overpriced coffeeshop staffed by bungling student part-timers, a bookshop with half a dozen token English titles, and a pretentious craft store stuffed with Chinese-made zakka goods and old typewriters.
The neighbourhood is the pits but it’s just off a major road not far from the popular rainbow “village”. It’d make a fine cafe, bookshop, and wedding photo hotspot if the current owners ever get around to doing something with it.
