Former Residence of Lin Erjia (Octagonal Building)

Overview of Heritage Site

Level of Protection of Immovable Cultural Heritage	[Siming District's list of sites of immovable cultural heritages in the third nationwide cultural heritages survey] (Unrated Immovable Cultural Heritage) (Octagonal Building) [ Taiwan-related Cultural Heritage] (Former Residence of Lin Erjia)

Level of Protection of Historic Building	[Major Protected Historic Buildings] A2-24

Category	Representative Architecture of Modern and Contemporary Times

Address	15 Lujiao Road

Time	1915

Conservation Area of Immovable Cultural Heritage	From southwest and south to Lujiao Road, and northeast and northwest to the walls of the residence.

Introduction to Heritage Site

The Former Residence of Lin Erjia was built in 1915. The Octagonal Building, aligned southwest-northeast, is a five-story Western-style building with a courtyard. The building derived its name from its octagon-shaped elevation. The elevation of the turrets is installed with round-arched windows with double columns. The lintels of the doors and windows are decorated with patterns of birds and Western flowers, demonstrating French style. The front gate is installed with tall arched columns and double-spin steps. Earlier, low-profile grey-black paint was applied to the exterior walls, while the interior decoration was luxurious Baroque style. The annex building has a connected arched corridor. Before the courtyard lies a path laid with plain colored pebbles, looking like a courtyard in the south of the Yangtze River. Collapsed in 2004, the building was rebuilt in 2009. Lin Erjia, literary name Shuzhuang, was a native of Longxi, Fujian. His ancestors went to Taiwan to reclaim and cultivate wasteland and made a fortune during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1796). After Taiwan was conceded to Japan in 1895, the Lin family moved to the Chinese mainland and settled in Kulangsu, Xiamen. In 1905, Lin Erjia served as Chief of Xiamen Bureau for Supporting Overseas Chinese Businessmen and President of Xiamen Chamber of Commerce. He built "Shuzhuang Garden" in 1913 and served as President of Xiamen Municipal Services in 1915.