MAISON ACME (Yuanshan Villa)

Chen served as head of the Taipei tea merchants' trade association (同業組合台北茶商公會) and was one of the key figures in Taiwan's tea industry, which was then growing fast. The house was completed during the Japanese colonial period, when the government, aiming to make Taiwan a centre of politics, finance and education, expanded Taipei's streets to a plan and laid out the tree-lined three-lane boulevard around the city. It also brought in various European architectural styles, which were mixed and varied, so Taiwanese architecture of the time was highly elaborate. Chen's house was built in this climate. After Chen died in 1923 the house changed hands several times. After the Second World War it was the home of Huang Guoshu, a former President of the Legislative Yuan. In 1979 the Taipei City Government bought it and used it temporarily as the northern district station of the city's parks and street lights office, for offices and storing equipment. In December 1987 it was formally handed over to the Taipei municipal art museum, and in 1990 it became an artists' club. In 1998 it was designated a historic monument, and investigation and restoration followed. Under the idea of reusing historic buildings, from 19 April 2003 to 18 April 2015 the building was adopted and sponsored by Ms Chen Guoci, who set up 台北故事館 (Taipei Story House) and opened it to the public to introduce Taiwanese life and culture and promote the reuse of historic buildings, using activities and exhibitions to bring the public closer to the monument. From May 2015 the foundation 郭木生文教基金會 took over running the Taipei Story House, curating exhibitions and arts events on food, clothing, housing, transport and entertainment and promoting tea culture. It also worked with the local community, residents and other resources on maintaining the monument and on heritage education. The building imitates English Tudor half-timbered architecture, a rare form in Taiwan. The ground floor has brick load-bearing walls, and the entrance has Ionic columns. The upper storey is timber, with curved, vertical and horizontal timber strips forming a branch-like pattern on the outer walls. The Gothic tower and the chimney are brick. The tower roof has curved eaves covered with copper tiles, which have turned green with age. Above the entrance, the tower is set with green, yellow and red stained glass. Inside are two fireplaces and many Art Nouveau embossed tiles and chandeliers with natural and floral patterns, popular in the early 20th century. The interior layout, and the balconies and terraces outside, are closely tied to the surrounding landscape. In 2021 the ACME team formally took over the running of the Taipei city-designated monument Yuanshan Villa (圓山別莊, formerly the Taipei Story House). Built in 1913, this Tudor-style building stands by the Keelung River. It was once the mansion of a Dadaocheng tea merchant and a social centre for artists and writers, and the team has repositioned it as a modern mansion for exhibitions and performances that combines old and new.

Translated and shortened by DealTaipei from Taiwan's national tourism database. Sources are on the terms page.