'Hazelwood' - Shanghai - 1934
Edinburgh Rd, Shanghai.
This was the residence of the Chairman (or 'taipan' as they liked to be addressed) of Butterfield & Swire, one of the leading British mercantile houses (or 'hong') in China. Known by its Chinese name 'Taikoo', Butterfield & Swire built its trade in shipping, sugar and insurance and competed in the China trade with its great rival, Jardine, Matheson & Co.
Designed for a taipan's comfort as well as entertaining a large number of guests in great luxury, the house's plans were drawn up from a distance by architect William Clough Ellis (of Portmeirion fame) who never visited China. Essentially, it combines Palladian architecture with a touch of the style of an antebellum plantation house from America's Deep South with the wide verandahs and dormer windows.
The photo shows the rear of the house looking across its wide lawn. It is not too difficult to imagine dinner guests in the 1930s smoking and flirting on the balustrade whilst others dance to a Chinese band on the patio under a warm Shanghai night sky.
For a remarkable photo of the building taken in 1933 from the collection of John Swire & Sons, go to the archive at Historical Photographs of China website at hpc.vcea.net/Asset/Preview/dbImage_ID-19772_No-1.jpeg
'Hazelwood' - Shanghai - 1934
Edinburgh Rd, Shanghai.
This was the residence of the Chairman (or 'taipan' as they liked to be addressed) of Butterfield & Swire, one of the leading British mercantile houses (or 'hong') in China. Known by its Chinese name 'Taikoo', Butterfield & Swire built its trade in shipping, sugar and insurance and competed in the China trade with its great rival, Jardine, Matheson & Co.
Designed for a taipan's comfort as well as entertaining a large number of guests in great luxury, the house's plans were drawn up from a distance by architect William Clough Ellis (of Portmeirion fame) who never visited China. Essentially, it combines Palladian architecture with a touch of the style of an antebellum plantation house from America's Deep South with the wide verandahs and dormer windows.
The photo shows the rear of the house looking across its wide lawn. It is not too difficult to imagine dinner guests in the 1930s smoking and flirting on the balustrade whilst others dance to a Chinese band on the patio under a warm Shanghai night sky.
For a remarkable photo of the building taken in 1933 from the collection of John Swire & Sons, go to the archive at Historical Photographs of China website at hpc.vcea.net/Asset/Preview/dbImage_ID-19772_No-1.jpeg