The Sathon Mansion ( th, บ้านสาทร) or Luang Chitchamnongwanit Mansion is a complex of historic buildings in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, Thailand. It was built in 1888 for

Luang Sathonrachayut Luang may refer to: *Luang (title), a Thai noble title *Luang Island, an island in the southwestern part of the Maluku (province), Maluku Province, Indonesia *Luang language, a language that is spoken on the islands Luang, Wetang, Moa and Lakor *Lu ...

(Yom Pisolyabutra), the wealthy Chinese businessman who developed

Sathon Road Sathon Road ( th, ถนนสาทร, , ; also ''Sathorn'' or ''Satorn'') is a major road that passes through the districts of Bang Rak and Sathon in central Bangkok, Thailand. It is an important transportation link between Phra Nakhon and Tho ...

, and later served as the Hotel Royal, the Soviet embassy (later the Russian embassy) and, since 2015, a restaurant and entertainment venue for the W Bangkok hotel, known as The House on Sathorn.

History

The mansion was built in 1888, during the reign of

King Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร� ...

(Rama V), for

(Yom Pisolyabutra), the wealthy Chinese businessman and government official who owned and developed the land around

Khlong Sathon Sathon Road ( th, ถนนสาทร, , ; also ''Sathorn'' or ''Satorn'') is a major road that passes through the districts of Bang Rak and Sathon in central Bangkok, Thailand. It is an important transportation link between Phra Nakhon and T ...

, and later served as the residence of Luang Chitchamnongwanit, his son-in-law. In 1910, Luang Chitchamnongwanit went bankrupt, and ownership of the mansion fell to the Privy Purse (later to become the

Crown Property Bureau The Crown Property Bureau (CPB) ( th, สำนักงานทรัพย์สินพระมหากษัตริย์; ) is legally the administrative agency responsible for managing the property of the King of Thailand. It has no ...

) in 1916. King

Vajiravudh Vajiravudh ( th, วชิราวุธ, , 1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth monarch of Siam under the Chakri dynasty as Rama VI. He ruled from 23 October 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his efforts ...

(Rama VI) bestowed the mansion to

Chao Phraya Ram Rakhop Chao may refer to: People * Chao (surname), various Chinese surnames (including 晁 and 巢, as well as non-Pinyin spellings) * Zhou (surname) (周), may also be spelled Chao * Zhao (surname) (趙/赵), may also be spelled Chao in Taiwan and H ...

, and later, in the 1920s, it became the site of the Hotel Royal, under the management of Madame Staro. In 1948, the property was leased to the USSR, and it served as the site of the Soviet embassy (later the Russian embassy) until the year 1999. The mansion underwent extensive renovations in the 2000s, as part of the development of the

Sathorn Square Sathon or Sathorn ( th, สาทร, ) is one of the 50 districts (''khet'') of Bangkok, Thailand. The district is bounded by six other districts (from north clockwise): Bang Rak, Pathum Wan, Khlong Toei, Yan Nawa, Bang Kho Laem, and Khlong ...

office tower and the W Bangkok hotel, which now flank the mansion on each side. It reopened in July 2015 as a restaurant and entertainment venue for the W Bangkok, known as The House on Sathorn. The building complex received the

ASA Architectural Conservation Award The Architectural Conservation Award ( th, รางวัลอนุรักษ์ศิลปสถาปัตยกรรมดีเด่น) is given by the in recognition of architectural conservation efforts by both the public and privat ...

in the award of merit for the architecture and community heritage conservation category for the 2020–2021 year.

Architecture

The complex comprises four buildings surrounding a central courtyard. The main mansion, the first to be built, is a two-storey structure in the Neoclassical style, with a central front porch and a three-storey tower in one corner. The

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

is covered with diamond-shaped cement tiles, and the interior is extensively decorated with carved teak, with

tin ceiling A tin ceiling is an architectural element, consisting of a ceiling finished with plates of tin with designs pressed into them, that was very popular in Victorian buildings in North America in the late 19th and early 20th century. They were also ...

s on the lower floor. The two three-storey side wings were added during Luang Chitchamnongwanit's time, and the rear building, originally a single-storey service building, was later converted to a two-storey reinforced concrete structure.

Notes

References

{{Bang Rak District Buildings and structures in Bangkok Registered ancient monuments in Bangkok Russian ambassadorial residences Soviet Union–Thailand relations Bang Rak district