The 400-billion of Cong Tu Bac Lieu House
On the Bac Lieu traveling journey, few visitors miss the opportunity to visit Cong Tu Bac Lieu House (Vietnamese people call sons of rich families “Cong tu”). The house is famous not only because it has a special architectural style but also because it has a connection with the life of Cong Tu Bieu Lieu, the richest boy and had an extremely luxurious lifestyle in Vietnam in the first half of the twentieth century.
Cong Tu Bac Lieu House is located at 13 Dien Bien Phu, Ward 3, Bac Lieu City, Bac Lieu Province. Looking at generally, the house has a rectangular block shape. It has high and large doors and windows. The surrounds of the house, the doors, and the windows are embossed with straight lines, painted white color on the yellow color wall foundation.
The building consists of 2 floors. All construction materials are brought back from Paris, and the house is designed completely in French style at the beginning of the 20th century. The first floor of the house consists of 2 bedrooms, 2 large and luxurious halls with stairs leading upstairs. The second floor has 3 bedrooms and two halls, with meticulous design lines. The yellow lights shining brightly throughout the room give a warm and comfortable feeling. Each column in the house is also decorated with many beautiful patterns.
The furniture in the house such as cabinets, tables, chairs, and a makeup table is made of precious wood, carved skillfully and has at least 100 years old. Especially, there is a divan made of Lim wood, whose tree has an age of 500; a bed is made of Huynh De wood, which has a special spreading smell making flies and mosquitoes avoid far, this bed also has 6 marble pieces making cool feeling, the bed was slept by Cong Tu Bac Lieu in dry season; a bed is made of Giang Huong wood, which has the characters perspiring warm air, this bed was lied by Cong Tu Bac Lieu in the rainy season.
In the house, there is a clock made in Germany and a telephone made in France, which in the present can still be used. The most outstanding is a sports car bought by Cong Tu Bac Lieu ‘s father in 1922 when Cong Tu Bac Lieu returned from France and until now it is still able to be used.
The house was started building in 1917 and completed in 1919. It was built by Mr.Tran Trinh Trach, Cong Tu Bac Lieu’s father. In 1975, Vietnam stopped the gun sound, and the government had the policy confiscating the houses of great landowners, Cong Tu Bac Lieu House has not belonged to his family anymore.
By the way, we will talk about Cong Tu Bac Lieu. The real name of Cong Tu Bac Lieu is Tran Trinh Huy. He was born on June 22, 1900. He was the second son of Mr.Tran Trinh Trach. Tran Trinh Trach was one of the richest landowners in Vietnam in the first half of the twentieth century. He had 145,000 hectares of rice field and 110,000 hectares of salt field.
Growing up, Uncle Ba Huy (The calling way of farmers to Cong Tu Bac Lieu) was sent to France to study, but instead of studying the science and technology, he studied to drive a car and plane, and dance. Returning the country, he continued to live a luxurious life. About farming, he rented a Frenchman to manage. Occasionally, going to visit the fields the fields, Ba Huy wore Veston and drove a car. He bought even a canoe to surf on the canals of Mekong Delta.
When visiting the field, Uncle Ba Huy used the Ford Vedette, when he went out, he used sports car Peugeot, the car kind at that time in Vietnam had only two, the other was of King Bao Dai. In the 1930s – 1940s, when King Bao Dai had anything, Ba Huy had to buy it, including the plane. Uncle Ba Huy had 5 wives and a numberless lover. He was the first man to organize beauty queen contest in Vietnam and chose some queens as lovers
There are many anecdotes about his generous spending of Cong Tu Bac Lieu like “Burning money to cook eggs, “Competition between Hac Cong Tu and Bach Cong Tu” (Hac Cong Tu is other calling name of Cong Tu Bac Lieu), “Renting dozens of carts to go around Saigon City”. Although Cong Tu Bac Lieu spent money generously, he still has humanity. One time, he burned all debt notebooks, erasing debts of all tenants. He died in Saigon in 1974 and was buried in the hometown, Bac Lieu.
More than a century passed, but Cong Tu Bac Lieu House still exists its wonderful beauty. The house shows a famous luxurious and rich lifestyle of a boy, the son of a great landowner in Vietnam in the first half of the twentieth century. The house becomes a topic causing comment words.
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