Step Into The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

A storied past makes this home the perfect film set… Michelle Yeoh, Constance Wu and Catherine Deneuve have graced these rooms

Metro.Style Team

January 23, 2020, 09:44 AM

We've been here before... through the silver screen, that is. The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, also famously known as "Penang's Blue Mansion" was the film set for a dramatic and pivotal moment in John M. Chu's 2018 rom-com, Crazy Rich Asians.

This was not the mansion's first film appearance, though. It has also been featured in various productions from the critically-acclaimed Asian murder-mystery The Blue Mansion in 2009, Malaysian drama The Red Kebaya in 2006, and the Oscar-winning Indochine of 1992, starring Catherine Deneuve.

The Cheong Fatt Tze mansion is decorated with materials that symbolize the four feng shui elements, water, earth, fire and air. Its facade shows Hokkien cut and paste porcelain Chen Nien works. | Courtesy of The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion's courtyard is a motif common to Chinese dwellings. | Courtesy of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

Commissioned by the original "Crazy Rich Asian," Cheong Fatt Tze – an illustrious, self-made tycoon nicknamed the ‘Rockefeller of the East’, the iconic Blue Mansion is the result of his incredible eye for detail and determination to use only the best artisans and materials for construction. The first bricks were laid in the 1890s after detailed consultations with the era’s leading Feng Shui masters. Despite having built various mansions across Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and China, The Blue Mansion remains Cheong Fatt Tze’s most prized achievement. It is through this elegant mansion that Cheong Fatt Tze’s grandiloquence and passion for heritage and luxury is personified inexorably.

The mansion portrays a mix of Hakka and Teochow styles, with Southern Chinese typologies and materials. Its archetype undeniably traditional Chinese, it nevertheless embodies its owner's fascination for a number of Western influences, particularly English Art Nouveau. | Courtesy of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

A detail photo reveals the magnificent combination of Cantonese wood latticework and Scottish cast iron balusters. | Courtesy of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

By Metro.StyleSeptember 16 2024, 7:25 PM

Detail of Tile Floors in Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

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Detail of Cabinetry in Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

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In its heyday, the Blue Mansion – so named because of the indigo hue of its walls; was the pivotal heart of the city. The mansion gradually fell into disrepair after his death and was purchased by a group of Penang conservationists in 1989.

Chinese calligraphy adorn the doors of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. It has a distinguished roof line characterized by ceramic roof tiles. | Courtesy of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

The Blue Mansion was aptly named so because of its indigo walls. | Courtesy of The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

Its new owners lovingly restored it to its former glory by 1995 – winning UNESCO’s Most Excellent Project in the Asia Pacific Heritage Award in 2000. In 2001, it was turned into a boutique hotel, allowing guests to better appreciate its intricate qualities. Lonely Planet also recognized it as ‘One of 10 Greatest Mansions in the World’ in 2011. In 2001, it was turned into a boutique hotel, allowing guests to better appreciate its intricate qualities.

Those who would like to experience the Blue Mansion may stay for a night through their "One Night at the Mansion" offer. For MYR50,000, it includes one night’s accommodation for 36 adults, curated welcome gifts evocative of Penang, a Nyonya afternoon tea and mahjong session, a private guzheng and cocktail session, a 5-course meal at Indigo and champagne breakfast. Guests may inquire by emailing onenight@cheongfatttzemansion.com.