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Life in an old French villa in the ‘golden land’ of Hanoi

A room of only 20 square meters belonging to the ancient French house number 57B Hang Bo (Hanoi) was once the residence of 7-8 people. The whole family lives in the villa but takes turns in the morning queue to go to the toilet, sometimes a long wait for their turn.

Mr. Nguyen Nhat Thanh (55 years old) was born and raised in a room of 20m2 – belonging to an old French house at 57B Hang Bo (Hoan Kiem, Hanoi). The house is about 100m2 wide, completed with classical architectural standards in Europe, so far it is still a typical type of house in Hanoi but not on a mass scale.

However, according to Mr. Thanh, these old French villas are only “super-luxury” when under the roof is a family living, and if they have become the residence of 5 to 20 families… It’s a very different story.

How does “living in a villa” feel?

Mr. Thanh walks on the Lim wood floor, which is a bit rotten but still shiny. He introduced this as the original wooden floor that has been kept from ancient times, dating back hundreds of years. His house, called “home”, but actually a room about 20m2 has been expanded to be more spacious, is now the residence of 3 generations.

Life in an old French villa in the 'golden land' of Hanoi Photo 1
The room of about 20m2 of Mr. Nguyen Nhat Thanh’s family is currently the residence of 3 generations.

He doesn’t know exactly how many lives his ancestors have lived in this room, only that when his parents came here, since the 70s, the two of them spent a small amount of money to buy back and perfect the furniture. relevant legal documents.

This villa is quite special with a symmetrical architecture with one door in the middle and two small symmetrical windows on both sides. Today, because there are more households living, the renovation has a side aisle on the side of the house (alley or perpendicular street) leading directly to the common staircase area, from which it will reach each household.

The wooden attic, as the elders in Villa 57B Hang Bo call it, is outside, with a wooden spiral staircase, tiled roof, wide windows and a balcony facing the street. Previously, this villa was allocated to about 5 households.

Mr. Thanh’s family’s house is a room at the end of the 2nd floor, near the stairs. Before the expansion, the area was only about 15m2 and there was a time when this was the residence of 7-8 members.

Life in an old French villa in the 'golden land' of Hanoi Photo 2
Life inside the ancient French house number 57B Hang Bo.

In the 70s, when Mr. Thanh was still a child, he fully experienced the life that people often call “the specialty of the old town people in Hanoi”: Shared bathroom, shared toilet.

Every morning at rush hour, members of 5 households with about 30 people patiently wait in long queues, waiting for their turn to go to the toilet. There were days when he finished reading two newspapers, but the person sitting inside did not come out, so he had to “hug his stomach” to go to school.

Life in an old French villa in the 'golden land' of Hanoi Photo 3
Currently, households living in villa 57B Hang Bo all have their own kitchen and toilet area.

In the afternoon there was another queue to take a bath. But at that time, young men like him used to take a quick bath from the well in the middle of the yard. Cool water, large yard, in the middle of the city, I thought I was in the countryside.

“I remember when I was an original house with old architecture, the houses were almost connected, from house to house there was not much privacy, sometimes there were inconveniences but in return it was very fun and attached.” – Mr. Thanh said.

Life in an old French villa in the 'golden land' of Hanoi Photo 4
The floor is made of ironwood which is still kept to this day.

From about the 90s onwards, the population density in villas has been increasing, from 5 households, to 7 households, then 14, 20 and now nearly 25 households.

When his parents were old, Mr. Thanh was the next generation to take over the house. He renovated a little, turned the spiral wooden stairs into a small room, expanded the kitchen area about 2-3m2 just enough for a gas stove and built 2 more small lofts to store things. In addition, the house still retains the iron wood ceiling and floor.

Life in an old French villa in the 'golden land' of Hanoi Photo 5
Mr. Thanh is cooking rice in an old mansion.

Thanks to that, when you get married, have children, and have more family members, the basic living space has also become comfortable. Now, each household has a toilet, although it is a bit small, it is much more private and convenient than before.

Mr. Thanh stood in the kitchen with his body fit and neat like the way he arranged each furniture in the room. He said he was used to this lifestyle, but perhaps he was the rare old person still “stuck” in the mansion. “When people grow up, get older or get richer, people have a need to make their lives comfortable,” said Mr. Thanh, walking out of the kitchen with his head almost touching the door.

“The ancients did not like the land”

Ms. Vu Thi Thi (SN 1945, Mr. Thanh’s mother) leisurely sat on the sofa listening to her son tell the story of the house. She did not object, only when asked about the amount she paid to buy back this room, she clicked her tongue: “At least, the ancients did not like the land”.

Life in an old French villa in the 'golden land' of Hanoi Photo 6
According to Ms. Thuc, the people of her generation and the time when she lived did not matter to people about land. If you are a state official, you will be granted land, if not, you only have to pay a small amount to buy land, build a house, and live happily.

“In that day, I remember people still fighting to get into the alley to live, criticizing the road surface because of the noise and chaos” – Mrs. Thuc said.

Now, right in the villa she lives in, every square meter of land is fully utilized for business. The first floor of Hang Bo street is divided into 2 renovated spaces for rent with the architecture almost opposite to the 2nd floor facade.

Life in an old French villa in the 'golden land' of Hanoi Photo 7
It is difficult to recognize the small street in the past with a French villa with reliefs hidden under the shade of trees and iron fences.

When talking about living in a villa all her life, Thuc said: “Lucky”. The “luck” she said is not the old town land worth thousands of billions of dong, but because her memories of Hanoi are still being preserved in this only 20m2 house.

According to Dan Tri

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at Blogtuan.info – Source: infonet.vietnamnet.vn – Read the original article here

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