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families at the back or above the shop.
These places are referred to as “tube
houses” — tall, narrow, matchbox-like
houses with shopfronts, a living space
further back and a patio halfway up
to allow the sun and breeze to come
streaming in.
“
Tube houses of the past are a far
cry from those we see today. Before,
tube houses were multi-functional
with shopfronts, living space at the
back, ancestor shrines upstairs and an
open-plan patio for teaching, reading
poems and performing on days of full
moon,” recalls Nguyen Ba Dan, aged
74,
working at 87 Ma May.
These houses have been around
since the 15th century when the
Chinese merchants first came to Hanoi.
During the feudal years, property was
subject to taxation depending on the
width of the frontage. So the pragmatic
and ever-industrious merchants built
narrow and tall to maximise space and
minimise costs.
Linda Mazur, a Canadian
architectural researcher who has been
living in Hanoi since 1998, explains:
These houses
turned into
complex rabbit
warrens but
families try to
hang onto them,
no matter how
dilapidated,
because they
are worth a
fortune
You’ll find plenty
of Chinese
architectural motifs
and tube houses
(
below) at Hanoi’s
Old Quarter
H I S T O R I C A L H A N O I
“
Before 1802 it was forbidden for
houses in Hanoi to have windows
on the second floor. People couldn’t
be seen to be higher than the king
in his palanquin. Not only was it not
proper to stand higher than the king,
but also it reduced the opportunity for
assassination attempts. In 1802 the
royal court moved to Hue, so houses
in Hanoi became taller, not to mention
more open on the second floor and
above.”
