The house and the eternal love story in Sa Dec.

once glorious house

The old house was built in 1895 by Mr. Huynh Cam Thuan, a famous and wealthy Chinese merchant from Fujian, Sa Dec, in the bustling commercial area along the Sa Dec River.

Originally, this was a traditional three-room house typical of the Southwestern region of Vietnam, covering an area of ​​258 square meters.², with precious wood as the main building material, and a boat-shaped roof covered with yin-yang tiles.

By 1917, Mr. Huynh Cam Thuan had the house renovated using solid bricks encasing the wooden frame inside. Therefore, while the exterior resembled a French-style villa, the interior revealed a distinctly Chinese architectural style.

Later, his youngest son, Huynh Thuy Le, inherited the house. And from then until now, the house has remained relatively intact.

After a major renovation in 1917, the house displayed a harmonious blend of French, Vietnamese, and Chinese architectural styles. At first glance, the exterior appears to be in the 17th-century Romanesque Renaissance style with its arches, columns, and floral and leafy patterns and reliefs. However, the interior still retains the traditional three-bay layout of the Vietnamese house. The gilded and lacquered decorative panels inside, however, feature themes from traditional Chinese art.

At the front door, there's a sliding frame with parallel horizontal round wooden slats. At midday, instead of closing the main door, they slide this frame shut. Light and wind still enter the house, and neighbors won't disturb them by pulling the frame shut. Some people call it the "afternoon nap frame."

The central section of the house has a sunken floor. This is a deliberate construction detail by the homeowner, as according to feng shui principles, wealth flows to low-lying areas. The altar dedicated to Guan Yu is also placed in the center of the main section, in accordance with Chinese beliefs; the motifs on the decorative panels are "dragon, unicorn, tiger, phoenix," instead of "dragon, unicorn, turtle, phoenix"...

A witness to the tragic love affair of literature.

Besides its value in combining Eastern and Western architectural styles, the old house is also famous for being a "witness" to the boundless love affair between the female writer Marguerite Duras and her first lover, Mr. Huynh Thuy Le, the owner of the house.

In 1929, on the My Thuan ferry, a young French woman (the author M. Duras) attracted the attention of Huynh Thuy Le, a wealthy 27-year-old man, the son of a Chinese tycoon. Due to differences in family background and culture, their affair lasted 18 months before being vehemently opposed by Huynh Thuy Le's family. After parting ways, M. Duras returned to France, while Le soon after married a Vietnamese woman of equal social standing, as arranged by his family.

That sad love story was later recounted by her in her work L'Amant (the English version is The Lover).,The Vietnamese version is titled "The Lover". Published in 1984, the novel quickly gained widespread acclaim, being translated into 43 languages ​​worldwide and winning the Goncourt Prize (France's most prestigious literary award). In 1986, the novel was adapted into a film of the same name by director Jean-Jacques Annaud.

In particular, during a meeting in Cholon (around 1929-1930), Huynh Thuy Le briefly told M. Duras about her father. Even when M. Duras wrote her autobiographical novel L'Amant in 1984, she still remembered this detail vividly. She revealed in her autobiography that Huynh Cam Thuan (Huynh Thuy Le's father) was famously wealthy in Cholon and Sa Dec thanks to his business of building houses and renting them to locals.

And that was all she knew about the background and family career of her first lover.

immortal vitality

After Mr. Huynh Thuy Le passed away, his children all settled abroad. The old house was repurposed as a police station, and in 2007 it was opened to the public for tourism.

The house was certified as a Provincial-level Monument in 2008 and a National-level Monument in 2009. Currently, the Huynh Thuy Le ancient house has been entrusted to Dong Thap Tourism Joint Stock Company for preservation and as a tourist attraction. Every year, the house welcomes tens of thousands of international visitors, especially a large number from the French-speaking community.

For nearly 10 years now, the Huynh Thuy Le ancient house has also offered overnight accommodation for tourists. The house has two rooms, and guests wishing to stay must register in advance. Breakfast and lunch are provided. The rooms are fully furnished and include a TV with pre-loaded movies.LoverThe aim is to give visitors the most authentic experience of what actually happened at the house.

But has the relationship between Mr. Huynh Thuy Le and Ms. Marguerite Duras really ended?

Anyone who has read to the end of The Lover's Story will likely believe that, like this majestic 125-year-old house, the love affair between the homeowner and the writer lives on. In fact, it is that very love that gives the old house its enduring vitality.

Years after the war, marriage, children, divorce, novels..., he came to Paris with his wife. He called me. I recognized the voice instantly.

"I just want to hear your voice," he said.

"It's me, hello," I replied.

He was still as awkward and timid as ever. He started to stammer. And so, thanks to that stammering, I got to hear his Chinese accent again.

He knew I had started a writing career; he heard it from my mother, during a reunion with her in Saigon. He was also deeply saddened by the death of my younger brother. Then he didn't know what else to say. And then he said, just like before, he still loved me, he couldn't stop loving me, and he would love me until he died.

(Excerpt from *The Lover*, Marguerite Duras)

Additional information

• Address: 255A Nguyen Hue Street, Ward 2, Sa Dec City, Dong Thap Province, Vietnam
• Entrance fee: 20,000 VND/person
• Room rates: from 550,000 VND/room

Lan Oanh