Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, a boutique hotel that’s one of Penang’s best-known attractions in an ornate edifice built in the traditional Hakka – Teochew style. Located at 14 Leith Street, the structure was erected in the 1880s when Hakka merchant, Cheong Fatt Tze commissioned its construction.
A self-made and affluent merchant-trader, Cheong Fatt Tze left China as a penniless teenager but soon rose to the ranks of the well-heeled when he established a vast financial empire throughout East Asia at the end of 19th century. Despite the popularity of modern Anglo-Indian designs at the time, he chose to build his domicile as a traditional-style Chinese courtyard house. The stately manor has 38 rooms, five granite-paved courtyards, seven staircases and 220 timber-frame windows.
Rescued from ruin in the 1990s, the indigo-blue mansion blends elements of Eastern and Western design and stands apart from other structures along the street due to its distinctively gregarious exterior. Featuring art nouveau stained glass and beautiful floor tiles, the mansion is a beautiful representation of the architectural style preferred by wealthy Straits Chinese of the time.
In 1989 the mansion was purchased from Cheong Fatt Tze's descendants in order to save the structure from imminent development that would have resulted in its demolition. Maintained as a private residence, the property also operates as a 16-room bed-and-breakfast as part of an ongoing restoration project; additionally the estate also doubles as a museum. You can choose to visit the mansion on a one-hour guided tour or you can spend the night at the boutique hotel.
Highlighted in various TV programs on networks such as CNN, BBC, The History Channel and Discovery Travel & Living, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion has also been featured in various films ranging from the 1993 Oscar-winning French film Indochine to the critically-acclaimed 2009 motion picture The Blue Mansion.
Winner of the 1995 Malaysian National Architectural Award for Conservation, the 2000 UNESCO Most Excellent' Heritage Conservation Award, ‘Best Tourist Attraction 2003’ Merit Award by the Malaysian Ministry of Culture, Arts & Tourism and the 2008 Best of Malaysia Travel Award’s ‘Best Boutique Hotel’ by Expatriate Lifestyle magazine, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is undoubtedly one of Penang’s most prominent attractions.
