Wild, bizarre, amazing… there are many ways to describe Crazy House (also known as Hang Nga Villa) in Da Lat. Not only does it attract many domestic and international tourists, but this villa has also been repeatedly voted by magazines around the world as one of the world's strangest houses. Recently, the unique strangeness of Crazy House was praised on CNN.
Located within a 2,000 m² area.2Located on Huynh Thuc Khang Street in Da Lat, Crazy House stands in stark contrast to the surrounding French-style villas. The house is a labyrinth with spiral staircases, sculpted bedrooms, undulating surfaces with swirling colors, narrow bridges, and hidden nooks and crannies everywhere.
The "crazy" house is located just over 1 km from Da Lat market.
The artist who built this structure, Ms. Dang Viet Nga (79 years old) - daughter of the late General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Truong Chinh - told CNN Travel in an interview that this house is the pinnacle of her life and creative career. "I wanted to create something pioneering, something completely different from other houses in the world."
In February 1990, she sketched out plans for the Crazy House. A year later (1991), the house opened for business and welcomed its first guests. Today, Crazy House gives visitors the feeling of being lost in a magical forest in the middle of a bustling city.
Ms. Dang Viet Nga, owner of Crazy House
The house has no right angles, no straight lines; instead, everything seems to have melted at high temperatures and then frozen into bizarre shapes. Natural elements such as mushrooms, seashells, caves, and spiderwebs are everywhere.
Crazy House viewed from above.
In addition, she used various materials to build the house, such as steel, wood, and concrete. Her son, Dang Viet Nga, shared: “My mother used a lot of concrete because it’s cheap and easy to shape. She could use it to create any shape she wanted, so it reflected what she was envisioning in her head.”
"With this style, you can let your imagination run wild. There are no rules, except for simple structural principles to ensure the house stands firm and is safe. The most important thing is how you express yourself," Ms. Nga said.
"The most important thing is how you express yourself."
The main house sits high in the center of a large, tree-lined courtyard and is surrounded by four enormous treehouses. Large, twisted cement "branches" connect the houses, allowing people to move from one to another.
This surreal structure evokes the contorted scenes in the paintings of the renowned artist Salvador Dali or the organic works of the modern architect Antoni Gaudi.
Crazy House attracts many tourists from both within and outside the country.
The treehouses are designed in a playful style. Each house has 10 guest rooms. Each room is named after an animal or plant and is filled with cave-like beds and wooden seating areas.
Connecting with nature is a message Ms. Nga wants to convey through her house. “I feel that over the centuries, humans have been destroying nature. Not only in Vietnam, but all over the world. So I wanted to create a structure that helps people get closer to nature.”
"But there's another message: we should think creatively. Don't limit yourself by rules or expectations. Let your mind be free and your imagination soar."
Based on her own advice, she plans to add more details to the house, such as two new gardens – a Ground Garden and a Sky Garden – to bring in more greenery and flowers, and also build more treehouses.
"The bizarre house will never truly be finished. It's like a living thing. It will always be changing."
additional information
Opening hours: 8:30 AM - 7:00 PM daily
Ticket price: 50,000 VND/adult; 20,000 VND/child
Additionally, Crazy House offers room rental services.
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