Luo Family Residence

Luo Family Residence

Situated on Heping Road in the old town, it was constructed in 1942 by Luo Jingyu and his brother. The layout is rectangular, longer from north to south and narrower from east to west, comprising a front house facing the street, a rear house, a west wing, and a corner tower linking the two. All buildings are three-story single-eave gable-and-hip roof structures with wooden post-and-lintel framing, covering an area of 250 square meters. This building was the tallest and most imposing in the old town at the time in terms of materials, craftsmanship, and scale. After 1949, the residence was taken over by the county government and remains in relatively good condition today.

Situated on the central thoroughfare of the old town (now Heping Road), it faces southwest and northeast, and was built in the 31st year of the Republic of China (1942). Constructed by Luo Jingyu and his brother, this area was once bustling with shops. The residence was built on a plot of land that was long from north to south and narrow from east to west, with existing private homes along the east and west walls, resulting in its rectangular layout. It features a wooden post-and-lintel structure, is three stories high with a single-eave gable-and-hip roof, and is covered with small blue tiles. The total width is 6.5 meters, depth 17.5 meters, height 11.4 meters, and floor area 250 square meters. It consists of a front house facing the street, a rear house, a west wing, and a corner tower connecting the front and rear sections. No wings were built on the ground floor of the east and west sides. The front house is two bays wide, 6.8 meters deep, with a narrow passageway along the west side of the western bay. The rear house is also two bays wide, 6.05 meters deep, with a narrow passageway along the east side of the eastern bay. The wings are two bays wide (4.5 meters) and about 3 meters deep. The side rooms are square, each 2.2 meters in both width and depth.

Among the remaining wooden residential buildings in the old town, none surpass this residence in terms of materials, selection, or scale. It was the tallest building in the city during the 1940s and was also regarded as having the finest craftsmanship. It stands as a representative example of high-quality wooden architecture of that era.

After 1949, the residence came under the ownership of the People’s Government. With the shortage of timber and the adoption of other building materials, wooden structures ceased to be built in the city, making this residence even more precious. It provides valuable physical evidence for the study of the development and craftsmanship of wooden architecture in Shuicheng from the Qing Dynasty to the Republican era. On June 3, 1989, it was designated as a county-level cultural relics protection unit.