Huang Family Villa Complex

Overview of Heritage Site

Level of Protection of Immovable Cultural Heritage	[Major National-level Protected Historical and Cultural Sites] Batch No.8

Level of Protection of Historic Building	[Major Protected Historic Buildings] B2-09、10、12

Category	Significant Modern and Contemporary Site and Representative Architecture

Address	27、29、31 Huangyan Road

Conservation Area of Immovable Cultural Heritage	To the conservation line of the Foreigners' Football Pitch in the east; to Huangyan Road in the north; to the wall of the heritage itself in the west and the south.

Introduction to Heritage Site

The Huang Family Villa complex belonged to the famous patriotic overseas Chinese entrepreneur and social activist Huang Yizhu (1868–1945). Huang came back from Indonesia in 1919 and settled down in Kulangsu. The next year, he purchased the Tait property on Huangyan Road from Lin Erjia, and developed the existing Huang Family Villa complex on the site.
The villa complex is located at the foot of Sunlight Rock, overlooking the then foreigners’ football pitch. The site has a total area of 12,000 square metres, and the buildings have a total floor area of about 4,500 square metres. The complex consists of north, centre and south dwellings, symmetrical in layout. The main building in the centre, built by the Shanghai Yutai Company in 1921, is offset about 20 metres to the west provide for a central garden in the east. It has two storeys and combines characteristics of the trendy Art Deco style with Southeast Asian architectural style. It is restrained but not plain, gives a rather modern impression. The entire building is finished in granitic plaster, indicating superb construction skills. The north and south dwellings differ from the main building in exhibiting a number of decorative details imitating western classical revival style, with dormer windows exhibiting decorative pediment walls in Baroque style. The central garden is also in Baroque style.
The Huang Family Villa complex was where Huang Yizhu lived while he was busy developing his industries in order to achieve prosperity for the nation. The buildings and the garden were built by reconstructing the former dwellings of foreigners and integrating traditional Chinese architectural elements into the overall design. As a result, the villa complex is an outstanding example of the fusion of diverse architectural styles, through the imitation of magnificent western mansions with the introduction of fashionable design forms. The whole is a demonstration of the integration of diverse cultural elements and the pursuit of popular trends in architectural design on Kulangsu.