Located in the heart of Hanoi city, the villa has typical French architecture and is said to have been built by King Bao Dai.
The old French villa located on Ngoc Ha slope (Ba Dinh, Hanoi) was built in 1911 with unique architecture.Mr. Ho Hoang Hai, who owns a part of the villa, shared that he just bought it here since the beginning of 2021. The elderly, who have lived around the villa decades ago, often call this “Bao Dai villa”. .They said the work was built by the aunt of King Bao Dai. She married a French husband and lived in Hanoi, so she started the construction of a mansion combining Eastern and Western cultures. When King Bao Dai abdicated, he used to go to Hanoi and stayed here.This is a villa located in a villa complex of 4 old French villas located close together. Construction materials are imported entirely from France and Italy. Previously, the building was located on the front of 2 streets of Ngoc Ha and Hoang Hoa Tham, but later it was obscured by households who built houses to encroach on the outside.The current mansion’s reception house and dance floor is located at 184 Ngoc Ha, which is vacant and degraded. This area used to be leased as a draft beer restaurant.Outside is the typical Eastern dragon phoenix roof architecture.Inside the villa is built in Western style: There are fireplaces and wall cabinets, stairs, iron floors, wooden doors, electrical systems, water supply and drainage. Iron wood steps.Outside the mansion, the red roof tiles, green border are intact and show no signs of fading. Blue windows feature French architecture in the early 20th century. The villa has an armored electric system that goes underground in the wall. In addition, the electric line is underground under the floor with a copper electric socket on the floor. The back of the building with the garage door goes directly to the basement of the main house – this is a different detail from other French villas. Because other villas have a private car garage located outside the yard. Now, the garage door is the door to the house. The villa has its own garden of 300m2 wide with ornamental lake, rockery, many precious trees and walking paths. The garden is surrounded by a fence shaped like a dragon. However, most of this garden has been destroyed now. The image of the building was taken nearly a century ago. In the foreground are 2 rows of trees on Hoang Hoa Tham street and the top of Ngoc Ha slope. Below is a picture of a famous French architect named Arthur Kruze – who designed this mansion as well as dozens of other famous architectures in France and around the world.
Mr. Hai said that whether this residence belonged to the king of Bao Dai as the people of word of mouth or not was still open, because there was no state agency to confirm and research. He has accessed and researched many documents but there is no clear evidence.
“I hope that historical researchers, architects, managers or those who love and have knowledge about the ancient French villas to share more information about the building, so that everyone can have the most accurate documentation. At the same time, I hope that the experts will advise to preserve this project effectively “, he said.
