After the cluttered city of Kota Kinabalu, it was such a visual pleasure to be in Penang. Penang is one of the straits Chinese settlements which gives the city a most romantically memorable character. One of the things I was looking forward to, was staying at the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion because of its absolute wonderful history and bold architecture. I'm a huge sucker for antique chinese furniture and 1920s glam so when I found out that staying at the mansion was much cheaper than staying at any stinking Hilton or one of those hotels that look the same everywhere, I signed us up for 3 nights!
The mansion itself was built by Cheong Fatt Tze who was a self made millionaire back in the late 1890s. He had 8 wives and his favourite wife dwelled in Penang so that was not a surprise that the house there was the most ornate and treasured. The house itself is choked full of chinese feng shui ( courtyards, pineapple and bat designs etc), victorian ceiling designs, scottish iron wroughting and English window stains. It sounds like it would be sensory overload but it just worked together. The most striking thing about the mansion is that it is painted indigo blue which is a sign of colonial settlement as the colour blue is considered to be the colour of death for the Chinese.
The mansion itself was built by Cheong Fatt Tze who was a self made millionaire back in the late 1890s. He had 8 wives and his favourite wife dwelled in Penang so that was not a surprise that the house there was the most ornate and treasured. The house itself is choked full of chinese feng shui ( courtyards, pineapple and bat designs etc), victorian ceiling designs, scottish iron wroughting and English window stains. It sounds like it would be sensory overload but it just worked together. The most striking thing about the mansion is that it is painted indigo blue which is a sign of colonial settlement as the colour blue is considered to be the colour of death for the Chinese.
*Two main spiral stair cases allow mansion guests to wonder around property. A feng shui knocker. Monumental mirrors flank the halls. Teak window shutters look out to indigo blue walls.*
One of the main court yards
*A retro foot rest. Victorian ceiling designs. Nonya style tiles. A daybed for guests*
Aaron playing with the resident cat.
A hotel room key that isn't a card nor automatically starts your air con!
The immense wealth of Cheong Fatt Tze could have lasted 9 generations if spent wisely,however by the second generation, it has all but gone. After the heir's passing, the widow rented out the mansion to families for money and as years passed, 38 odd families enhabited the old mansion. They rode their motorcycles through the house over the tiles and up the stairs, cooked on the teak wood floors and let the grand mansion slowly die. Luckily, historian conservationists bought the house in the 1990s and slowly restored it back to its old grandeur.
Here is a video I took, in one of them you'll see Aaron having his breakfast:
5 comments:
Wow, what a gorgeous place! I especially LOVE that spiral staircase and the door key! Thank you for sharing it. :)
yes i am loving the key as well, and the lanterns, and the fact that blue is the color of death to the Chinese. and your earlier description of your hike was so vivid! like you, I've been on steep all day hikes before, when your lungs and your legs become your mortal enemies...but yes, it's so great when you beat them and make it to the top. so glad you had such a cool trip....
crazy cool! That place is amazing & what a treat you got to stay there!
wow that shot of the mirror room is freaking sweet!
Gorgeousness. I like staying in different places instead of generic ones too. Why stay at a Hilton when you can have something special?
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