Near Kota in the Glodok area, this late-19th-century Chinese merchant mansion is a striking remnant of Jakarta's Dutch colonial past. Built in the Chinese Baroque style, it served as the headquarters of the Chinese Community Council during the Dutch colonial era and later as a clan house.
The condition is deteriorated — the mansion has been empty for years, wedged between two unfinished hotels abandoned during the 1998 financial crisis — but the ornate facade, carved wooden screens, and inner courtyards retain real grandeur. Crumbling plaster and faded paint somehow add to the atmosphere rather than detract from it.
It is tucked into the busy commercial fabric of Glodok, Jakarta's Chinatown, a short walk from the old town at Kota. Even if access inside is limited, the exterior alone is worth a detour for anyone interested in the layers of history that make this part of Jakarta unlike anywhere else in the city.