Songso Old House in Cheongsong, Gyeongbuk
Floor space: 160 pyeong
A 99-kan mansion built in Cheongsong, Gyeongbuk in 1880 by Sim Ho-taek, the 7th generation descendant of the Sim family, who had been a full-time housekeeper since the reign of King Yeongjo. Shim Ho-taek is said to have actively participated in the national debt redemption movement. Next to it is Songjeong Old House, where Sim Ho-taek’s second son lived, and General Lee Beom-seok is said to have often stopped by. After liberation, land reform distributed the land owned to tenant farmers, putting an end to nine generations of full-time farmers.
It is still lived and managed by descendants and is operated as a Hanok stay facility.
Seongyojang, Gangneung, Gangwon-do
Land area: 4500 pyeong
Floor space: 318 pyeong
It was built in 1703 by Naebeon, the 11th generation descendant of Prince Hyoryeong, and was expanded over the next 10 generations. It is said that, as a man of rice, he gave thousands of pounds of rice during times of poor harvest. At the end of the Joseon Dynasty, he opened a private school called Dongjin School and focused on modern education. Although it was closed due to Japanese oppression, he continued to contribute funds to the independence movement. A 102-kan mansion, not a 99-kan mansion.
It is the largest and best-preserved traditional hanok among the remaining traditional hanoks, and is still inhabited by descendants and used as a hanok stay and cultural experience facility.
Imcheonggak, Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do
This is a mansion built in 1515 by Lee Myeong, who served as Hyeongjo Jwarang during the reign of King Jungjong. It is currently the oldest Hanok mansion and was originally a 99-kan mansion. However, 11 independence activists emerged from the family of Lee Sang-ryong, who served as the first Minister of State of the Provisional Government in Shanghai, and they took a lot of their property to Manchuria and participated in the independence movement.
The Japanese were so angry that when the railroad was being built, they made the line cross Imcheonggak and demolished 50 kanals. At the time, Lee Sang-ryong sold this house to raise funds for the independence movement, and other members of the family pooled their money and bought the house back in two months.
Afterwards, when the Japanese colonial government organized the family register, it was necessary to register the family register, but Lee Sang-ryong and his family did not register the family register, considering it a humiliation under the Japanese colonial rule, and eventually the ownership of the house was registered to someone else in the family.
After liberation, Lee Sang-ryong’s descendants lived an extremely difficult life, so the ownership remained in the hands of others. In 2000, Lee Sang-ryong’s descendants recognized this and filed a lawsuit, finally regaining ownership after a 10-year trial.
But the ruling
It only judges the fact of deregistration of the existing ownership, and omits the clause requiring the family to be recognized as the owner and make a new registration.
Currently, Imcheonggak is an unlicensed building with no registered owner. Descendants are demanding that a special law be enacted because under the current law, it is impossible to escape the status of unlicensed buildings unless a new building is built.
Separately from that, work is currently underway at the national level to remove the railroad laid by the Japanese and restore it to its original state.
Baek In-je’s house in Gahui-dong, Seoul
Floor space: 150 pyeong
A mansion built in 1913 by Han Sang-ryong, Lee Wan-yong’s maternal nephew. It is said that it was built using black pine from the Yalu River. Afterwards, Choi Seon-ik, a Chosun Ilbo reporter and Yeo Woon-hyung, became the owner, and in 1944, Baek In-je, an independence activist and doctor who founded Paik Hospital, purchased it. Even after liberation, Baek In-je lived there and was kidnapped by North Korea during the 1950 war.
Afterwards, descendants lived there until the city of Seoul purchased it in 2009 and turned it into a museum in 2015, opening it to the public.
Yun Bo-seon’s house in Anguk-dong, Seoul
Land area: 1400 pyeong
Floor space: 250 pyeong
It was created by Min Yeong-ju of the Min family in the 1870s, and was given by King Gojong to Park Yeong-hyo when he returned to Korea in the 1890s. After Park Yeong-hyo’s failed coup attempt, he passed through several names until 1918 when Yun Chi-so, an enlightened businessman and the father of former President Yun Bo-seon, took over.
Purchased, this is the mansion that former President Yun Bo-seon lived from the age of 10 until his death.
After President Yoon Bo-seon was deposed, he worked as an opposition party leader and fought against the government, and it was used as a meeting place for many opposition party members.
