Homestead
Wawasan Open University, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, George Town


        



Homestead is one of the biggest and most elegant mansions to be built by a Chinese towkay in Penang. It was designed by architect James Stark of the firm Stark & McNeill for Lim Mah Chye, a tycoon of the early 20th century. It is said that Lim Mah Chye deliberately built his mansion to block the view enjoyed by his rival, Quah Beng Kee, who owned a mansion called Columbia Lodge right across the road (and is today the Maple Gold restaurant). The plan of the house is in the form of the letter "E".

In the 1920's, Quan Beng Kee suffered financial ruins when his ship crashed into the port in Deli, Medan, and he had to pay for the damages. His shipping company was taken over by Lim Chin Guan, the son of Lim Mah Chye. But before long, Lim Chin Guan's fortune also took a nose-dive, hit by the great depression, which destroyed many millionaires but created new ones. Lim Chin Guan had to sell Homestead to one of the newly rich, Yeap Chor Ee, the founder of Ban Hin Lee Bank.

Today the Homestead has been turned into the campus of the Wawasan Open University.



The Homestead front façade.



The expansive compound of Homestead



  • List of heritage sites in Penang









    • Bookmark and Share
    Let us keep you updated on everything related to Penang. Just copy and paste our link to your website or blog.





    Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for visiting Penang Travel Tips, and thank you for the opportunity to explore the world, to document, to photograph, and to share the travel information with you. My name is Tim, I'm the writer of this website, and I want to tell you how grateful I am for your visit. This is one of over a dozen websites that I write - you can click my thumbnail photo above to randomly visit any one of them. All my photos are available for commercial printing - find out the photo usage rights here. If you wish to share you photos on this website, upload them to www.panoramio.com and send the URL to me for consideration. And, if you'd like to correspond with me, send your mails to my address as shown below:


    Here's the latest updates from my websites ...



    SBI

    Ever want to build your own website? Do it the right way by using Site Build It (SBI). It has all the tools and lessons necessary to help you create a successful website. Once you have built an SBI website, you can also use it to recommend SBI to others with an SBI Affiliate account. What I like most about SBI is that it gives you a whole month to try it out for free, and if you don't like it after a full month, you can seek a full refund. That way, you can see for yourself how SBI can really help you create a great website.




    Tim's Travel Tips and globe logo are trademark and service mark of Timothy Tye. Copyright © 2008 Timothy Tye. All Rights Reserved.
    Penang Travel Tips is researched and written by Timothy Tye, universally known as Tim. The information provided is in goodwill and is believed to be correct and up-to-date at time of writing. We disclaim responsible for its usage, and encourage users to recheck the information before their trip. Some photos are provided by Panoramio. They are governed by Panoramio terms & conditions and are under the copyright of their respective owners. They may only be used under the terms & conditions specified by Panoramio. Photographs that belong to Tim are copyrighted and may not be reused unless you first obtain permission. All of Tim's photographs are available for commercial use under the following licensing terms. Tim is a Christian. Click here to know more about his beliefs. To contact Tim, write to: