87 Ma May Street House

Embodiment of Vietnamese Heritage and History

Tucked away in Hanoi’s atmospheric Old Quarter, the charming heritage property at 87 Ma May Street encapsulates enduring historical and cultural values. Built around the 1860s, the traditional Vietnamese timber tube house offers a glimpse into historic architectural techniques, customs, lifestyle aesthetics and craftsmanship. Though modest in scale, exploring this well-preserved historic home provides profound insights into Vietnam’s layered history from the French colonial era into modern days.

Historic Tube House Architecture

Most distinctively, the home demonstrates classic Vietnamese tube house architecture, built long and narrow to fit small urban plots. It stretches about 4 meters wide but over 60 meters deep. This efficient layout exemplifies how Vietnamese judiciously designed dense residential spaces, while allowing interior breezeways and airshafts. The home evokes Old Hanoi’s architectural character.

Showcase of Traditional Building Materials

The structure displays sophisticated traditional Vietnamese building materials and techniques rarely visible today. Its timber frame with brick fill get hand-carved and assembled without nails. Interior cabinets and ornamentation highlight fine hardwood joinery. Half-timber gables grace the facade in a Northern style. The house testifies to Vietnamese artisanal wisdom.

 

heritage house

 

Embodiment of Traditional Values

Elements like the open floor plan, central courtyard and altars reflect Vietnamese Confucian social values privileging communal spaces and ancestor veneration. Family bedrooms flank the large central common room and kitchen. The courtyard connects nature into daily life. Altars signify filial piety. The architecture facilitated traditional righteous living.

Look Into Colonial Era Merchant Life

The house offers a window into colonial Old Quarter life as a merchant residence and pharmacy. Vintage glass medicine bottles, remedies and tools showcase traditional dispensary activities operated out of homes. The Well protruded into the room uniquely for washing remedies. Old Quarter commercial dynamics play out in the home’s vestiges.

Persistence of Social Activities Into Modern Times

Remarkably, the heritage house continues facilitating social functions into modern eras. Today it holds art exhibits, fashion shows and atmospheric events in its rooms and courtyards. New generations appreciate the heritage while inhabiting the spaces creatively. The house remains integral to local life through reinvention.

Preservation of Intangible Culture

Beyond the physical building, 87 Ma May also preserves invaluable intangible culture through arts, customs and history. Recognition as historic patrimony requires maintaining spiritual rituals and values here. Restorers added a contemporary annex to keep the original fabric intact for education. The house safeguards disappearing heritage.

 

 

Architectural Education Site

The home provides architectural researchers with critical learnings about Vietnamese building methods and layouts. Experts extensively measured, photographed and documented the property to chronicle less-catalogued vernacular architecture techniques. This research value increases as historic urban homes face modern pressures. The building holds precious lessons.

Contrast Between Old and New Vietnam

Juxtaposed against glass high-rises next door, the quaint 87 Ma May house captures the incredible contrasts between old and new Vietnam. From the unrushed heritage craftsmanship to cozy scale, the building transports visitors back to past Vietnamese life seemingly untouched by modernity. The house testimony of resilience through vast change.

Unique Hanoi Cultural Experience

For tourists, 87 Ma May becomes a quintessential Hanoi experience, encapsulating the city’s alluring magnetism as a treasures awaiting discovery down narrow alleys. The house leaves impressions of regional lifestyle and ingenuity persisting quietly amid globalized urbanization. Visitors gain insights into cultural spirit through the historic space. If you are in Vietnam and interested in discovering more about Hanoi – the capital and its significance, we invite you to join us at Free Walking Tours Hanoi. We’ll take you across the building, and provide you with a unique perspective of the city. Book now and don’t miss out on this amazing experience.