During Phuket’s tin mining boom years of the 19th & 20th centuries, the owning families, many of whom hailed from southern China, built themselves some magnificent homes. Even today, some of these homes are still standing, some are lived in, and sadly others have survived but stand derelict. Our review of these heritage houses also includes some more recently built homes, which follow the same Sino-Portuguese architecture style. We have also come across a new mansion, which has a classic Georgian design of 19th century England
Words: Madeleine Becker
Pictures: Willy Thuan
THE VANDERBILT ESTATE – A private home with Georgian splendour
Baan Ar Jor – Meaning ‘The old Lady House’, this museum mansion is also an acclaimed restaurant called Toh Daeng, in Mai Khao
Baan Chinpracha – A private home, but open to the public as a living museum
Kiew Kai Ka – Closed and empty now, this house was most recently a Thai Restaurant
Luang Amnart Nararak – A large, run-down house on Dibuk Road used as a sewing garment factory
Phra Aram Sakhonkhet – Formerly the Thai Airways office, now empty and in need of attention
Phra Pitak Chinpracha – Formerly the Governor’s House, now the Blue Elephant Cooking School
Thai Hua Museum – A former school now a fascinating museum displaying artifacts from Phuket’s tin mining past
Memory OnOn Hotel – A heritage boutique hotel in Phuket Town, famously featured in the film The Beach
Limpanon Mansion – 100 year old abandoned house in Phuket Town, accessible only via a locked, hidden gate
Tourism Authority House – With a building footprint resembling the letter ‘H’, this mansion became the office for the Tourism Authority of Thailand
Music School – First converted from a family home to be used as a government building, this house is now the Yamaha Music School
House of Tin Baron – Located in vast grounds in the centre of Phuket Town this house is now Terra, a famous Italian restaurant
Panwa Beach Mansion – An upmarket restaurant located on the beach in southeast Phuket, and part of the Cape Panwa Resort
Kasikorn Building – This striking building is now the home of a bank, you’ll find it on Phangnga Road in the heart of Old Phuket Town
