Wu Tongwen Residence

Wu Tongwen Residence

The Wu Tongwen Residence is a cultural tourism attraction.

At the intersection of Tongren Road and Beijing West Road today—specifically at No. 333 Tongren Road—stands a garden villa with a modern architectural style. Named after its owner, Wu Tongwen, it is commonly referred to as the Wu Residence. Built in 1937, this four-story reinforced concrete structure features green ceramic tiles on its exterior façade and covers a construction area of 1,732 square meters. Old Shanghai residents used to call it the "Green House."

The building’s exterior resembles a large ocean liner moored in a harbor. Its graceful "ship’s hull" arcs and straight-lined "fuselage" façade are sleek yet dynamic. It was the last work designed by the renowned Hungarian architect László Hudec during his 20 years in Shanghai. In the design of the Wu Residence, Hudec executed streamlined lines with exceptional fluidity and a strong sense of modernity, making it one of the crowning achievements of his career.

This building is richly appointed, exquisitely decorated, and outfitted with state-of-the-art facilities, making it one of the most luxurious residences in Shanghai at the time of its completion. The residence is enclosed by walls and features a relatively spacious garden where cars could drive through and enter or exit via two gates, along with a large garage. Inside, in addition to multiple living and dining rooms, a sunroom, master and children’s bedrooms, dressing rooms, bathrooms, storage rooms, Chinese and Western kitchens, pantry, accountant’s office, vault, servant quarters, laundry room, gatehouse, garage, and more, the ground floor also included a dedicated banquet hall, ballroom, billiard room, and bar. The upper floor featured a chess room, bird-and-flower room, and more. The interiors were lavishly appointed—the ground floor lobby had a sprung dance floor, glass ceiling, and sunroom, complete with full heating, cooling, and plumbing systems. The spiral staircase, made of imported Italian marble with streamlined design, bronze handrails, and glass-panel railings, along with copper radiators embedded in the interior walls, still feels novel and distinctive even by today’s architectural decoration standards. This modern-style mansion was also the first private residence in Shanghai to install a small elevator. The mistress of the house, a devout Buddhist, had a traditional Chinese Buddhist shrine built within this otherwise entirely Western-modernist structure, complete with an altar, deity platform, and painted caisson ceiling.

The building is situated on the northern part of the property, right next to Beijing West Road, leaving a large garden area to the south. The second-floor living room, dining room, and other spaces are set inward, leaving a spacious south-facing terrace of over 70 square meters. A row of floor-to-ceiling windows connects the indoor space with the terrace and garden outside, offering sweeping views of the scenery. On the western side of the terrace, there is a grand and imposing outdoor spiral staircase that allows direct access from the second floor to the garden. Indoors and outdoors, upstairs and downstairs—all are seamlessly integrated. The third floor houses the master bedroom, and the building steps inward once again, leaving another terrace of about 40 square meters. Above this is the top floor, partly covered by the terrace in front of the children’s bedrooms. Part of the top-floor terrace is fitted with a semi-circular awning, creating a semi-indoor, semi-outdoor space. All the living terraces on each floor face the garden—a concept in architectural design known as "gray space," which adds a delightful touch. The terraces’ cascading layout further integrates them organically with the natural garden space, unifying indoor and outdoor areas. In front of the main building lies a large 1,367-square-meter lawn surrounded by trees such as holly. With minimal landscaping, the expansive lawn enhances the stately feel of the main residence while highlighting its presence.

The building’s exterior is thoroughly Western modernist in style, featuring smooth walls, large glass windows, a simple form, fluid lines, and a strong contrast between solid and void. At the same time, the designer envisioned the gradually tapering terraces as resembling a ship’s structure—the terraces as the ship’s deck, yet also part of the architecture. In other words, it uses metaphorical design to highlight the building’s unique character, making it a pioneer among Shanghai’s modern-style garden villas.

On the completion day of the "Green House," Hudec assured Wu Tongwen: "I can guarantee you that even 50 years from now, this house will still feel ahead of its time in terms of modernity. And even 100 years later, I believe it won’t be outdated. It should be considered a classic." To preserve its one-of-a-kind classic status, Wu Tongwen even bought the design blueprints and locked them in a safe. To see this ultra-modern, then Far East’s foremost luxury residence, John Leighton Stuart, then president of Yenching University, paid a special visit and was invited by Wu Tongwen to dine at the oval marble dining table on the second floor, where they took a commemorative photo together. The "Green House" was extremely costly to build. On the eve of Christmas 1948, a foreign diplomat once offered to buy the Green House as a consulate by trading a 10,000-ton cruise ship plus 500,000 U.S. dollars—but Wu Tongwen refused. To him, the Green House was not just a residence, but his "spiritual home."

After the Cultural Revolution, the residence was used by the Shanghai Urban Planning and Design Institute and underwent several renovations, with much of its former glory lost. In 2001, Gu Chuanhui, a renowned Taiwanese architect, leased the "Green House" and invested 8 million yuan in its renovation. The former Far East’s top luxury mansion emerged like a newly awakened princess, regaining its former splendor. Today, the Wu Residence serves as the office building for Hengyue Group’s Zhonghenghao International Trade (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. In 1994, the entire structure was listed as a Shanghai Municipal Protected Historic Building.

Wu Tongwen was born in 1908, in the 34th year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty. He was the son-in-law of Bei Runsheng, the "King of Pigments" of Suzhou, and the ninth uncle-in-law of the world-renowned architect I.M. Pei. The Bei family was immensely wealthy in Suzhou and once owned the famous Lion Grove Garden. The land for the Wu Residence belonged to the Bei family. Wu Tongwen, a "fortunate son-in-law," was also descended from the prestigious Wu family of Shanghai. After inheriting the family business, in the mid-1930s as the flames of the Anti-Japanese War approached and the Kuomintang urgently needed "military green" pigment for massive military expansion, this fortunate young master seized the opportunity, introduced military green pigment, and quickly rose in the pigment industry... More details on Wu Tongwen ++