The Plum Garden was built in the late 1930s. Once the summer getaway home for the master of cursive calligraphy of the generation, Yu You-ren, it is now a municipal historic building. The Japanese timber framing-style architecture features a common RC air raid shelter used in the early stage of the Pacific War. The enclosing walls of the courtyard adopted a battlement structure. The backyard is tree-shaded, verdant and luxuriant, overlooking Beitou River with murmuring water, and on the pillar beside the entrance, you’ll see the calligraphy inscription “Plum Garden” by Yu You-ren.
The Plum Garden is a Japanese residential building that witnessed the war era. It was built on a sloped terrain and has an upper and a lower floor. The upper floor faces Zhongshan Road. The façade, with Japanese timber framing, is on the ground floor level. Research on the construction work on the wall reveals that it is a moisture-proof partition mortar wall. The interior layer of the timber frames is troweled with red mud and sand, while the outside is decorated with white mortar. The building’s external features a masoned base, fish scale sidings, black tiles, and wooden window lattices. The lower floor is built with reinforced concrete and is used as an air raid shelter; it leads straight to the backyard. The Japanese building structure and underground air raid shelter trench echo the large air raid shelter trench right across; its special meanings fills it with historic value.
Plum Garden 梅庭
