Hidden on Ngoc Ha Street, Hanoi is an 82-year-old building once owned by Bao Dai, the country's last emperor. 

According to National Archives Center No.1, this was initially the Didelot residence, home of French baron Pierre Didelot and his wife Marie-Agnes Nguyen Huu Hao, biological sister of Queen Nam Phuong, wife of Bao Dai.

The mansion was built in 1939. In 1949, during the French colonial period, Bao Dai, then titled "National Chief", bought the building to serve as an office space for every time he visited Hanoi. Bao Dai is the last Nguyen Dynasty emperor, reigning from 1925-1945.

Later, this residence was turned into a public utility, before the state put the mansion up for sale. The above picture shows the current entrance, located inside Alley 186, Ngoc Ha Street.

Passing through the hands of many owners, the building has been divided into apartments. However, the first, third and fourth floors are still well preserved and they now belong to businessman Ho Hoang Hai.

Surrounding the mansion is the winding walls of the former royal garden. Fence walls remain intact but are covered by ornamental plants and vegetables grown by resident families.

The building has been gradually surrounded by many new homes, so a few people know about it. Each archway of the old fence walls serves as doorways to several households.

The antique mansion features Eastern royal dragon and phoenix roof, along with Western-style furniture and decorations.

The mansion was designed by famous French architect, Arthur Kruze (1900-1989). At the time, he came to Vietnam to work as a professor of architecture at Indochina Fine Arts College from 1930 to 1954.

Each floor of the building is divided into three to five rooms. These rooms have fireplaces, built-in wooden cabinets, and thick walls to ensure a cool summer and warm winter.

According to Hai, the current owner, the house has an elevator system to bring food from the kitchen to the dining room. Windows and doors use hinges and sliding rails from the original design and still operate smoothly.

The twisted wooden staircase is regularly maintained so it is still in good shape.

Stairs, wooden floors, fireplaces, wooden doors ... are all well preserved. In the picture is the stair system from the third to fourth floor (attic) in the house.

Hai said the French water pump from the French colonial period still works (left), and the electric wire system is hidden in steel tubes inside the wall (right) and under the floor.

At the end of Feb. 2021, the mansion was opened for free to visitors for a month, attracting many architecture, history and art buffs. The building is currently being rented by a unit of Mant furniture company in Hanoi as a showroom.

However, Hai still researches and collects historical documents, with the desire to verify the history and architecture of the residence, and find solutions to reviving the value of this former palace.