Moller Villa

Moller Villa

Moller Villa, also known as Moller house, is located at No. 30, Shaanxi South Road, Shanghai, covering an area of more than 5000 square meters and a garden area of nearly 2000 square meters.

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Historical evolution

In 1927, Mahler, a British Jew, came to Shanghai in 1919 and became a rich businessman by gambling on horses The private garden villa, which was designed and built by the famous Huagai architecture firm at that time, took nine years and was completed in 1936. The main building is a three story Scandinavian Norwegian style building, just like a castle in a fairy tale world. In 1941, in order to avoid the war, Mahler left China, leaving this "Dream Castle" which can not be taken away. After 1949, Mahler house became the office of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League. In 1989, Mahler house was listed as the first batch of excellent modern buildings and municipal cultural relics protection units in Shanghai.

geographical environment

The main building of the villa is connected with the attached building, high and low, the roof is steep and warped, and the shape is concave and convex. The doors and windows are arched, and the frame protrudes from the wall. The floor is steep. The two main towers are tall and straight, like scabbard, with multi-storey small windows. There are small spires at the corner of the building to echo with the main tower. The whole floor is ochre red, all of which are made of firebrick and inlaid with colored tiles. It looks like entering a fairy tale world. Indoor division of various sizes of housing, decoration is extremely cumbersome. Most of the stairs, floors and wallboards are teak, which are reddish brown and decorated with Western flavor. The garden is surrounded by a high wall of firebrick and covered with glazed tiles. The flower houses and grape houses in the garden are paved with tiles. Because Mahler loves horses and dogs, there are horse tombs and dog tombs in the park, as well as bronze horse statues and marble tombstones. The gate at the entrance is red, and the gate tower is supported by red brackets. There is a pair of stone lions by the door. The walls along the street are also made of firebrick, showing ochre red color and green glazed tiles.

Background story

The villa was designed by Mahler's little daughter. One night, the little girl had a dream of a big house with fairy tale pattern. Her father Mahler then built this unique Norwegian house according to the pattern she saw in her daughter's dream.

History of MAHLE villa: after 1949, MAHLE villa became the office of Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League. In 1989, it was listed in the first batch of modern excellent protected buildings in Shanghai. In January 2001, it was transformed into a small boutique hotel by Hengshan (Group) company, a large tourism group in Shanghai. In May 2002, it was officially operated as "Building 9" of Hengshan MAHLE Villa Hotel.

Prose

Moller Villa

Moller Villa, located at the corner of Shaanxi South Road, Yan'an Middle Road, has a garden villa with Nordic style, which was completed in 1936. In Shanghai in 1926, an English little girl living in Shanghai had a very magical dream. In the dream, she dreamed that she had a "Andersen's fairy tale castle"; so the little girl's father, Eric Mahler, decided to build a house according to her daughter's dream. This house not only has her daughter's dream, but also commemorates her early adventure life. Therefore, he invited a designer to design this castle style villa with Nordic architectural style at No. 30, Shaanxi South Road, and invested a huge amount of money to complete it in 1936. Shortly after the completion of the villa, it encountered the Anti Japanese War, and the Mahler family left the castle of their dreams. After the Japanese entered the concession in 1941, the Mahler family was driven to the concentration camp, and the villa became the club of the Japanese army. After the victory of the Anti Japanese War, it became an organ of the Kuomintang.

The gate of the villa is very small. When you walk in, you can see this villa with colorful fairy tale colors. Norwegian style spires, Gothic spires, Chinese style glazed tiles, tiger windows, Taishan tiles, colored tiles, and Buddhist niches are gathered together. Beautiful and exquisite patterns are carved everywhere. The domes are equipped with colored glass, and the spires of different heights form a mystery Wonderful outline, you seem to come to a mysterious village in northern Europe. The interior of the villa is really worth visiting, because Mahler decorated the interior of the dream villa like a luxury cruise ship. The wood carvings are all about the sea conditions of the fleet. Even the floor is made of thin wood strips to make the patterns of seaweed and kelp, the thinnest of which is only a few millimeters wide. There are three sections of stairs instead of two ends. When you come up from one side of the stairs, there are stairs on the opposite side. It's easy for unfamiliar people to get lost in the intricate stairway.

In about 1859, a British Jew named Nils maller founded the saici foreign company in Shanghai, acting as a shipping agent, and later bought his own ships to carry out the shipping business. In 1913, Eric maller inherited his father's business, which further developed the company's business. By 1920, the company had 17 seagoing vessels. For regular overhaul, he founded Mahler machinery Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, with more than 2000 workers at most. This factory is the predecessor of today's Hudong Shipyard. He is engaged in shipbuilding, ship repair, ship customs declaration, import business agency and transportation, which makes him a hot "foreigner" in Shanghai.

Mahler became rich mainly by old shipping, so he decorated his house like a luxury cruise.

The interior decoration of the main building is very particular. The aisles, corridors and other places are equipped with wall panels, and beautiful and exquisite patterns are carved everywhere. The dome is equipped with colored glass, showing gorgeous and soft colors under the sunlight.

The main building is a three storey building with two four sloping roofs of different heights on the top. The sloping roof on the east side is nearly 20 meters high, with arched bay windows on it. There are relief decorations on the top of the spire and bay windows. The sloping roof on the west side is about 25 meters high, with a steep roof. This building has a typical Norwegian architectural style, with a high pointed and steep roof, which is conducive to resisting the invasion of Nordic cold wind and reducing the house area. On the south facade of the main building, there are three beautiful and finely decorated double sloping roofs and four tiger windows, which are perpendicular to the main roof ridge. Together with the East and West four sloping roofs, it is like a gorgeous small palace. The decorative wood components on the top of the middle double slope are clearly exposed, and the joints between the components are plastered with lime, which typically shows the Scandinavian rural architectural style. The exterior wall of the main building is inlaid with Taishan tiles, which is quite characteristic.

The garden is located in the south of the main building. It is paved with colored tiles, and planted with rare flowers and trees such as juniper and cedar. In the middle is a lawn with a bronze horse. In order to beautify the landscape and facilitate the indoor flower appreciation, there is also a flower appreciation room in the garden. The room is equipped with heating equipment, the indoor carving is exquisite, and the floor is covered with colored tiles.

Although Mahler is a British Jew, he made his fortune in China. Although the appearance of the building is Nordic Norwegian, many details of the garden and interior decoration are quite Chinese. The gate is like a traditional Chinese mansion, with a pair of Chinese stone lions; the tall walls around the garden are paved with firebricks and topped with yellow green Chinese glazed tiles; walking in the corridor, you can occasionally bump into a Buddhist niche. After the Japanese entered the concession in 1941, the Mahler family was driven to the concentration camp, and the house became a Japanese military club. After the victory of the Anti Japanese War, it became a secret service of the Kuomintang.

Design concept

1. The garden is located in the south of the main building. It is paved with colored tiles and planted with rare flowers and trees such as juniper and cedar. In the middle of the garden is a lawn with a bronze horse. In order to beautify the landscape and facilitate indoor flower appreciation, there is also a flower appreciation room in the garden. The room is equipped with heating equipment. The indoor carving is exquisite and the floor is paved with colored tiles.

2. Although Mahler is a British Jew, he made his fortune in China. Although the building is Nordic Norwegian in appearance, many details of the garden and interior decoration are quite Chinese. The gate is like a traditional Chinese mansion, with a pair of Chinese stone lions. The tall walls around the garden are paved with firebricks and topped with yellow green Chinese glazed tiles From time to time, the corridor can also bump into a Buddhist niche, just like the Bodhisattva provided by fishermen on the ship, who is blessing the master with smooth sailing. It wasn't long before Mahler's family came across the Anti Japanese war.

3. After 1949, MAHLE villa became the office of Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League. In 1989, it was listed in the first batch of modern excellent protected buildings in Shanghai.

special dishes

Meidianyingshuanghui, meiguofengwei shrimp, Earl tea, crab powder, lion head, red lotus stewed snow clam, French fried goose liver, steak, lamb chop, shark fin, desserts, etc

Address: No.30, Shaanxi South Road, Jing'an District (near Yan'an Road Viaduct)

Longitude: 121.456258

Latitude: 31.222986

Tel: 021-62478881

Ticket information: free.

Chinese PinYin : Ma Le Bie Shu