Taipei Travel

Futai Street Mansion is situated right across the North Gate Post Office. It is a two-story hybrid building of stone and wood. The overall decoration lacks complexity, yet fineness can be found in its simple, understated beauty. The architectural design of the building was deeply influenced by the classical European style. The first floor of the structure was built using heavy piling of stone materials laid to form an elegant arcade of four columns and three spaces, where the arches are composed of trapezoid Qili’an rocks. Patterns pieced together by wood can be found in the arcade ceiling. The second floor and roof trusses are all made of wood, covered with pieces of asbestos tiles on the mansard roof. The outward appearance features steep roof and dormers on the façade, as well as stone arcade columns. It is an imitation of a Renaissance style building and is the only remaining detached western-style shop still extant today that was built during the Japanese Colonial Period.