Cambridge Rd Residence - Tientsin - 1933

Cambridge Rd, British Concession.

As Tientsin flourished after the end of WWI, Western expatriates flocked to take advantage of the business opportunities on offer. To cater for the growing numbers, a new residential suburb was created in the south-west of the British Concession. It was here that the British, other foreign residents and upwardly-mobile Chinese could live in a replica of a London suburb; the streets were either named after British towns (Glasgow, Cardiff, Dunbarton, Douglas) , British rivers (Avon, Tyne, Severn, Clyde) or British colonial cities (Hongkong, Colombo, Sydney, Singapore). It was bound to the south by Race Course Road .

 

This Italianate residence was built by French architects for Jilian warlord Zhang Zuo Xiang (张作相). The sign on the fence tells us in mangled prose that:-

 

"(it) was a typical collective western style with rich variety in its form.There is rich decoration and acrhitrave on its facade, presents magnificent appearance, owns the taste of classicalism"

 

.....whatever that means.

Done