Taipei Weekend 4 – Bungalows of Aifu Road

Posted: September 5th, 2010 | No Comments »

And so to finish up my little Taipei weekend, some truly lovely structures to be found if you’re willing to put in the effort of a climb up a pretty steep hillside – the former US Military bungalows of Yangmingshan.

Get yourself up to the top of Yangmingshan – walk from Tianmu, don’t take the bus you lazy sods, and you’ll come up by the Chinese Culture University. Up there are some of the most amazing residences in Taipei – ones I’d actually love to live in and many of them are empty and falling apart while others appear lovingly tended. They’re the former bungalows of the US Military.

Many of the complex of bungalows are lived in and well tended – as above

Most of these bungalows were built in the 1950s and certainly have that feel – across Yangmingshan there are apparently about 220 of these bungalows – typically 1,420 sq feet in small clusters about 10 to 15 minutes apart to create small but inter-linked communities. Each have fireplaces (see below) as winters can be cool up on Yangmingshan and open yards around the detached properties.

and this one – in original whitewash

And they have a touch of the US-Army-Base-anywhere about them

However, they are generally well built of wood and brick and, in the main, are well maintained. However some are empty and a little ramshackle while some are almost totally obscured behind wildly overgrown yards and gardens surrounding them.

This shot of a currently empty bungalow shows you how roomy the places are

and, as you can see, real fireplaces to keep off the winter Yangmingshan chill

Some of the bungalows have obviously empty for some time and the foliage is reclaiming them

Here the garden has become so overgrown you can just see the rather dilapidated roof of the bungalow throw the greenery

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