Visit the old house of the Governor

Place of worship in the old house.

On the windy Tay Ninh canal bank, among the magnificent high-rise buildings, the existence of the ancient house stands out, attracting the attention of all passersby. The house almost retains its original architecture. Inside the house, many of the owner's household items from the French colonial period are still carefully preserved.

"Treasure" of ancient house

The house with cultural and historical value mentioned above belongs to Mr. Nguyen Van Kien, born in 1851, from Quang Nam province. He studied abroad in France, then returned to Vietnam to hold several positions such as District Chief in Chau Doc, District Chief in Trang Bang, Governor of Tay Ninh, Governor of My Tho. During his tenure as Governor of Tay Ninh, he built this house. In 1914, Mr. Kien passed away.

The house behind has many antique and imitation antique ceramic items.

Today, the wooden items in the house still retain their beautiful carvings. The system of panels and parallel sentences are carved with images of dragons, unicorns, turtles, phoenixes, bats, peacocks, apricots, orchids, chrysanthemums, bamboo, lotus, birds, pine trees, deer, grapes, squirrels, etc.

Standing out in front of the house is a sculpture of a scroll, plum blossoms and two dragons. Below the scroll is a multi-layered embossed rose. On both sides of the scroll are carved images of two dragons hidden among the clouds. The truss system connecting the columns and the rafters near the roof is also embossed with elaborate decorative floral and leaf patterns.

In particular, the rafters are softly curved, the top part against the column head is decorated with a very sophisticated "pine and deer" motif. The art of ancient houses is also shown in the pairs of Chinese parallel sentences with gilded red lacquer and embossed carvings, and surrounding patterns.

In the house, there are two pairs of parallel sentences arranged in front and in the middle of the house. In 2019, during a visit to the ancient house of Governor Nguyen Van Kien, folk culture researcher, Master Nguyen Thi Nguyet commented: "In general, the decorative wood carvings in the interior of the ancient house with two main decorative styles: natural and gold-painted, create a beauty that is both splendid and quiet, simple but still very sophisticated, highlighting the main details in the overall decoration".

Scroll, plum blossom and two dragons in front of the ancient house.

The interior of the house is decorated in a pure Vietnamese style. The middle room is arranged as a place of worship with incense tables, ancestral altars and a portrait of Governor Nguyen Van Kien. In front of the Governor's altar is a set of eight treasures (8 types of ancient weapons often used for decoration); in the middle of the house is a shelf displaying the Ranking of the ancient house of Governor Nguyen Van Kien.

In the house there are still a few sets of old wooden tables and chairs, two sets of wooden boards, some items from the French period such as: desk phone, typewriter, record player, etc. With historical, cultural and architectural values, the old house of Governor Nguyen Van Kien has been ranked as a provincial-level architectural and artistic relic according to Decision No. 213/QD-UBND dated February 3, 2017 of the Chairman of Tay Ninh Provincial People's Committee.

Old tables and chairs in the old house.

The antique table and chairs were painstakingly collected by Mr. Kiet.

The back house is built with architecture quite similar to the old house in front.

Continuing ancient architecture

Behind the main house are outbuildings such as the kitchen, granary, and servants' quarters. In previous years, these outbuildings had deteriorated and collapsed. In 2015, Mr. Nguyen Anh Kiet - the fifth generation descendant of Governor Nguyen Van Kien - built a new house on the back of the house.

The back house was built with an architecture quite similar to the old house in front. Mr. Kiet said that the back house was built with traditional architecture, using old materials. The back house was paved with hexagonal tiles like the floor tiles of the old house in front. The entire wall of the house was built with old bricks, not plastered.

Portrait of Governor Nguyen Van Kien.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Viet - a person who has many years of research on the culture and architecture of Tay Ninh said: "These are the bricks that the homeowner bought back from Sang-da citadel, an old military headquarters in Tay Ninh, now the headquarters of the Tay Ninh Provincial Military Command.

When it was degraded, the local government ordered it to be dismantled, and Mr. Kiet bought back the bricks to build a new house. The construction of the new house with ancient architecture shows that Mr. Kien's descendants are aware of the value of the old house left by the Governor.

The house of Governor Nguyen Van Kien was built in 1894, in the shape of the letter T, 20m long, 12m wide. The house floor is 1m higher than the garden, with green stone curbs. The house walls are 40cm thick bricks bonded with lime mortar, the roof is covered with fish scale tiles.

The house has 32 wooden pillars. The two rows of pillars in the middle of the house are about 8m high and about 2m in diameter. All the pillars, rafters, walls, floors, and even the altar are made entirely of precious woods. The floor is paved with hexagonal tiles. The front room (main room) is used to receive guests.

At the front of the house is a main door and eight side doors divided equally on both sides. All doors are made of wood, designed in the form of folding doors. The middle of the house has small rooms on both sides. The longitudinal roof at the back is used for living, cooking, and resting. In addition, the house also has a sunny yard at the back to get natural light and wind.

The back house consists of a ground floor and a mezzanine. The stairs leading to the attic are paved with large, smooth tiles, the handrails are made of wood, painted with glossy oil, very beautiful. The roof is built in the style of an old attic, a combination of wood and concrete. The ground floor is divided into several small rooms, with a hallway in the middle.

The upper floor is a large, spacious space displaying family memorabilia. An altar cabinet, ancient wooden tables and chairs inlaid with shimmering mother-of-pearl. A few windows to let in more wind and sunlight are made in the old style with vertical iron bars and horizontal shutters.

The new house is decorated with many antiques, collected and bought by Mr. Kiet. On the pillars and walls are pairs of parallel sentences with mother-of-pearl inlaid horizontal lacquered panels, European chandeliers, and wooden pendulum clocks. In the middle of the house is a set of ancient wooden tables and chairs. On the display shelves are many antique and imitation ceramic items such as vases, cups, ceramic plates, earthenware jars, terracotta, etc. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Viet commented: "All the items and architecture of the new house are quite harmonious, suitable for the transitional space between the past and the present".

Currently, in Tay Ninh, there are not many ancient architectural works left. The old house of the Governor General preserves many values of history, art, architecture, beliefs, and customs of the Central people who came to settle in Tay Ninh. The old house of Governor General Nguyen Van Kien is one of the typical ancient houses of the Southeast region, which needs to be cared for and preserved.

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