<p>A century ago, Cambodia’s rice fields were filled with majestic, elevated wooden houses. Today, few noteworthy examples remain, largely because of the cost of maintaining them and the near-universal desire for air-conditioned, Western-style homes.<br /><br />So when Darryl Collins, an Australian art historian who has lived in the country since 1994, had the opportunity to buy one four years ago, he couldn’t pass it up. <br />Built in 1915 by a wealthy Chinese-Khmer timber merchant on a remote island in the Mekong river, the house was set on stilts, nine feet off the ground, to protect it from floods and to maximise air circulation. |<br /><br />It was constructed with at least five types of Cambodian hardwood, and the interior woodwork was decorated with ornate carvings of phoenixes, plum blossoms and fruit – symbols of success, abundance and wealth. <br /><br />“When I walked in, I was amazed,” said Collins, 63, who heard about the house from a friend documenting the country’s historic wooden architecture. At the time, he was facing the prospect of turning 60 and was looking to make a dramatic change from his life in Phnom Penh. <br /><br />But the elderly owners had no plans to sell the house – because of its isolated location and the general lack of interest in old homes, they assumed it would be more profitable to dismantle it and sell off the decorative elements. <br /><br />To prevent that from happening, Collins penned a contract on the spot, agreeing to buy the house for $6,400 (in US dollars, the de facto Cambodian currency), a figure the sellers deemed auspicious for its square eights (eight and nine are considered lucky numbers in Asia) and its amount. <br /><br />Moved and re-assembled<br />Antiques dealers, Collins said, would have driven “a harder bargain.” The location of the house – nearly 200 miles from Siem Reap, the town near the Angkor Wat temples where Collins planned to retire – didn’t deter him. He simply had it moved. The traditional wedge-and-pin construction made it possible for the 1,650-square-foot structure to be pulled apart; walls were sliced into panels by a team of 20 carpenters. “I was horrified,” he said. “I didn’t believe it could ever be put back together again.” <br /><br />The pieces, which weighed about 50 tons and included two dozen 30-foot columns and 400 35-foot floor boards, were hand-carried and loaded onto ferries that transported them to a nearby town. <br /><br />Then a truck took them to the land Collins had bought for $60,000, where a new concrete foundation waited. <br /><br />Reconstruction<br />Working with a local architect, Collins embarked on a 10-month-long reconstruction that was completed in July 2007 and cost about $94,000 (including the relocation and the installation of electricity and running water).<br /><br />The main interior space, framed by an elaborate decorative archway, functions as a large living and sleeping area, with a simply furnished master bedroom. Collins added two staircases, one lighted by lamps made from old chicken cages, and a two-story concrete wing to house the kitchen, the bathrooms and a guest room; a second new structure contains the garage, a storage area and another bedroom. Along with the patio under the house, which was retiled, the additions quadrupled the living space, to more than 6,400 square feet. <br /></p>
<p>A century ago, Cambodia’s rice fields were filled with majestic, elevated wooden houses. Today, few noteworthy examples remain, largely because of the cost of maintaining them and the near-universal desire for air-conditioned, Western-style homes.<br /><br />So when Darryl Collins, an Australian art historian who has lived in the country since 1994, had the opportunity to buy one four years ago, he couldn’t pass it up. <br />Built in 1915 by a wealthy Chinese-Khmer timber merchant on a remote island in the Mekong river, the house was set on stilts, nine feet off the ground, to protect it from floods and to maximise air circulation. |<br /><br />It was constructed with at least five types of Cambodian hardwood, and the interior woodwork was decorated with ornate carvings of phoenixes, plum blossoms and fruit – symbols of success, abundance and wealth. <br /><br />“When I walked in, I was amazed,” said Collins, 63, who heard about the house from a friend documenting the country’s historic wooden architecture. At the time, he was facing the prospect of turning 60 and was looking to make a dramatic change from his life in Phnom Penh. <br /><br />But the elderly owners had no plans to sell the house – because of its isolated location and the general lack of interest in old homes, they assumed it would be more profitable to dismantle it and sell off the decorative elements. <br /><br />To prevent that from happening, Collins penned a contract on the spot, agreeing to buy the house for $6,400 (in US dollars, the de facto Cambodian currency), a figure the sellers deemed auspicious for its square eights (eight and nine are considered lucky numbers in Asia) and its amount. <br /><br />Moved and re-assembled<br />Antiques dealers, Collins said, would have driven “a harder bargain.” The location of the house – nearly 200 miles from Siem Reap, the town near the Angkor Wat temples where Collins planned to retire – didn’t deter him. He simply had it moved. The traditional wedge-and-pin construction made it possible for the 1,650-square-foot structure to be pulled apart; walls were sliced into panels by a team of 20 carpenters. “I was horrified,” he said. “I didn’t believe it could ever be put back together again.” <br /><br />The pieces, which weighed about 50 tons and included two dozen 30-foot columns and 400 35-foot floor boards, were hand-carried and loaded onto ferries that transported them to a nearby town. <br /><br />Then a truck took them to the land Collins had bought for $60,000, where a new concrete foundation waited. <br /><br />Reconstruction<br />Working with a local architect, Collins embarked on a 10-month-long reconstruction that was completed in July 2007 and cost about $94,000 (including the relocation and the installation of electricity and running water).<br /><br />The main interior space, framed by an elaborate decorative archway, functions as a large living and sleeping area, with a simply furnished master bedroom. Collins added two staircases, one lighted by lamps made from old chicken cages, and a two-story concrete wing to house the kitchen, the bathrooms and a guest room; a second new structure contains the garage, a storage area and another bedroom. Along with the patio under the house, which was retiled, the additions quadrupled the living space, to more than 6,400 square feet. <br /></p>