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Built before 1869, this was the traditional Chinese residential compound home of prominent Chinese literary figure Zheng Guanying, whose works on economic markets influenced both Dr Sun Yat Sen and Mao Tse Tung and were invoked by them in promoting major historic changes in China. This traditional Chinese residential complex is located adjacent to Lilau Square, one of the city’s first Portuguese-style piazzas, illustrating Macao’s multicultural background in this mix of architectural features and the building’s immediate and contrasting urban environment.
The Mandarin’s House is a traditional Chinese-style compound, covering an area of about 4,000 square metres. The entire complex consisting of a gatehouse, courtyards, servants’ and master’s quarters extends more than 120 metres along Barra Street. The gatehouse opens onto a courtyard that separates the master’s quarters from the servants’ quarters and the outer garden. Located in the inner part of the compound are the master’s quarters consisting of two traditional enclosed courtyard houses. The individual entrances of houses in the compound are all orientated in the same direction, facing northwest. This differentiates the Mandarin’s House from typical Chinese dwellings with northeasterly façades. The buildings are predominantly Chinese in style, with subtle western influences in the decorative motifs, also marking a period in Macao when Chinese architecture started to display a fusion of styles from different cultures. This would later become more evident at the beginning of the 20th century, with Art Deco, a style that progressively became more prevalent in other constructions in Macao and throughout China, including Shanghai, Canton and Hong Kong. Chinese tectonics is observed in the house superstructure, the choice of building materials, the colourful relief ornamentations on the friezes and the detailing of windows and doors. Western and other foreign influences are expressed on plasterwork with arched ornamentation over doorways and the use of mother-of-pearl window panels of Indian origin.
Mandarin’s House special web page : http://www.wh.mo/mandarinhouse/en/