The House

The Chinese House is located on Sisowath Quay, facing the Tonle Sap river, adjacent to the container port, in the former ‘quartier français’. The building is an original combination of Chinese architecture (roofs, doors, pillars) and French colonial style (facade, tile floors). It is amongst the very few houses in Phnom Penh that were not modified and remains in its original state.

The land originally belonged to a son of King Ponhea Yat, the founder of Phnom Penh, and later to the ‘Second King’ or the ‘Upayuvarech’. In 1903, Tan Bunpa, a member of the Chinese community, bought the land and built the house a year later.

Tan Bunpa was a merchant in the food trade, member of the Chamber of Commerce, supplying foodstuffs to the ‘Prison du Protectorat’ and other departments of the French administration.

His family occupied the house until the mid 1970s and abandoned it when everyone was escorted out of the city by the Khmer Rouge. In the 80s, several families who managed the nearby hospital occupied the house.

The house was purchased by a Khmer/Australian family in the early 90s and from1994 to 2007 it was occupied by Darryl Collins, an Australian art historian.

The house was bought by a great-grand-daughter of Tan Bunpa, known in Phnom

In November 2008, it was transformed into an art gallery downstairs and a bar upstairs named The Chinese House.

Based on research conducted by Darryl Collins

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45 Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh - info@chinesehouse.asia