About 3 km from Cai Be town, along the Southern bank of Cai Be River, under the shadow of fruit trees of Hoa Loc mango, longan, green-skin pomelos, orange, tangerine and Java apple stands the ancient house of Mr. Le Van Xoat (620, group 18, An Thanh Hamlet, Dong Hoa Hiep Commune, Cai Be District). This is the house with a unique artistic architecture, built in Ruong style in Hue with Southern nuance.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, for more than 3 years (1818-1821) of construction, the house was completed. The married couple, Mr. Le Van Ky and Mrs. Pham Thi Lau recruited architects from Hue to construct this house. The house was built in the style of “Ruong” house with 3 compartments and 2 sub-rooms of precious wood and Ying and Yang tiled roof in an orchard area of 9,215 m².

During 6 generations, in spite of many times of reparation and renovation, the outside manner of the house is as form of Western architecture, but inside the house still retains an original unique feature in the style of Southern folk house.

According to the surveys and monument records which are kept at the Provincial Monument Management Board, the front part is the brick wall with an area of 80 m² based on French architectural style and a height of 4.5 m. Background is paved with the blue hexagonal stone; and floor was paved with pattern brick. There are square and round columns and arches. On the top of the arches and the columns, they are built in the Gothic architecture decorated with string of leaves and roses; in the middle, there are 2 words "Nhut Tan" with a pattern of coin connected together; the roof is paved with fish-scale tiles.

Inside the front side of the house, there is a roofed corridor as a reception and workplace with an area of 110 m², and a set of frame includes 14 wooden pillars, diameter of 30 cm, height of 2.78 - 3.78m standing on burial background blue stone and ceramic tile floor (formerly it was Chinese tile floor). 3 main compartments were created by the 4 crossbeams connected with 4 columns of the corridor of the main house, on 6 crossbeams are carved skillfully and meticulously such as stylized head of dragon, double happiness word, phoenix, fruit and string of leave.

Through the roofed corridor is the main house with an area of 205 m², the floors are paved by Chinese tiles, with the corridor running into the rear, 24 round big tall wooden pillars which are used for supporting the roof (diameter of 30-35 cm and height of 3.5 - 4.7m). The door-frames with "upper railing and lower panel" are decorated with many moulds of filigree, relief and intaglio skillfully (124 molds) following topics imbued with Vietnam identity such as apricot, bird, pine-tree, bud, Buddhist hand fruit, daisy, lotus and string of leave, which is the symbol of happiness, prosperity and longevity.

Entering the main compartment, it is the place of worship, which is built following style of the slanting beam house, with 24 non-carved Pyinkado columns, put on blue stones respectively; the beams were carved with topics such as flowers of pear and pomegranate and string of leave, which are very unique. On the column row are arranged 2 parallel sentences, in the middle space between columns are panels carved with nacre and gilded. Panel's rails are engraved swastika, flower and fruit.

In the middle, there is a plate of big word of "Chan Gia Thanh", two scrolls carved the shape of apricot and bird on two sides of the plate and the Buddhist altar with a solemn triptych. In 2 compartments, panel is carved in shape of stylized dragon, flowers, scroll, custard apple, star fruit and flower basket, etc.; below is the ancestral altar carved in shape of carps transforming into dragon.

Not only the house has a unique architecture, but also inside the house still preserves many precious antiques such as 6 altars, 2 couches, 4 panels, the set of altar and the furniture, which are carved in shape of dragon, phoenix, scroll, apricot, bird, fruit carefully or be carved conch, gilded, reflecting the ingenuity of the talented artists at that time. In particular, it still retains a long table set in white marble, with a length of console of 1.59m, a width of 0.82m, a height of 0.82m and 1 marble plank set (2 planks) with a length of 2.20m, a width of 1.60m and thick of 15cm.

With a deep history and unique architecture as well as several other houses in Dong Hoa Hiep Commune, the ancient house of Mr. Le Van Xoat was given professional advice by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the local cultural organization to develop community tourism, and it was recognized as the provincial historical cultural sites in 2014.

Reportedly, the proposal for historical-cultural sites of the ancient houses in Dong Hoa Hiep has been completed requesting the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for recognition of National Ancient Village, in order to preserve and promote the values of cultural sites for visitors in Tien Giang.

MSc  Mr. NGUYEN MANH THANG
     Director of Tien Giang Museum