Yen Chia-Kan’s residence, located at No. 2 and No. 4, Section 2, Chongqing South Road, Taipei City, is the former site of the Touqu dormitory of the Bank of Taiwan Kabushiki-gaisha. The former residence is surrounded by old trees, most of which were planted in the era of Japanese occupation, next to “Home to All” outbuildings built in 1960s. Every piece of scenery and artifact is infused with a wealth of history.
The word ‘Touqu’ refers to the chairman of the board in Japanese. Generally speaking, the Touqu of the Bank of Taiwan Kabushiki-gaisha did not often live in Taipei, and the Bank of Taiwan Kabushiki-gaisha had this western-style residence specially built for those occasions when he needed lodgings in Taiwan.
In the center of the main body of the Yen Chia-Kan residence, there is a large wooden staircase, a protruding minaret on the roof, and a rain shelter at the entrance. The building is surrounded by green spaces and gardens, where the preserved Japanese stone lamps in the garden have a unique Zen style. This building was built around 1915 (the fourth year of Taisho in Japan). Around 1920, another Japanese-style wooden house was added, which made the official residence a mixture of Japanese and Western styles. At present, the furniture in the interior are still those original purchased at that time. There is also a tennis court in the official residence, which shows the detailed consideration taken by the Bank of Taiwan Kabushiki-gaisha in looking after the Touqu’s daily needs.
In 1945, Yen Chia-Kan, who had been the Director of the Finance Department of Fujian Province, arrived in Taiwan and served as the Taiwan Special Commissioner of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, concurrently serving as the Director of the Communications Division of Chief Executive Office, Taiwan Province. The following year, he was transferred to Director of the Finance Department of the Chief Executive Office of Taiwan Province and responsible for taking over the Bank of Taiwan Kabushiki-gaisha and reorganizing it to form the Bank of Taiwan.
Yen Chia-Kan’s family lived in this building for many years after coming to Taiwan. According to family memories, mealtimes consisted as many as four full tables of relatives dining at the same time, all living under the same roof. The Yen clan originally domiciled at Jiangsu. Yen Guo-Sin, the grandfather of Yen Chia-Kan, was the richest man of the Mudu old town. The “Yen Family Garden” is still a prominent sightseeing location. Yen Chia-Kan may have reflected upon the differences and similarities in of Taipei and his hometown while sitting in his residence.
On the north side of Yen Chia-Kan’s residence, there is another simple two-story western-style building, which is so-called “Home to All.” The House was originally a guesthouse of the Combined Service Forces, with a look similar to the Chinese character ‘eight.’ The interior hall ceiling is octagonal, painted with northern Chinese architectural patterns, and features an octagonal caisson in the middle. The main entrance is at the intersection of the left and right wings, with a two-layer building and a garage. Since 1975, because it is adjacent to the then-President Yen Chia-Kan’s official residence, the Office of the President has allocated this place to serve as the official residence and renamed it “Home to All.”
In 1993, the former President Yen Chia-Kan passed away; in 1996, the Home to All was reclaimed by the Office of the President and was condemned due to disrepair; in 1999, Department of Culture Affairs, Taipei City Government designated Yen Chia-Kan’s former residence as a municipal historic site, and the following year it was designated as a national historic site by the Ministry of the Interior. The adjacent Home to All was also designated a municipal historic site to fully commemorate the spirit and historical facts of Yen Chia-Kan. However, the restoration and activation of the building has not been completed; the main structure is only temporarily protected by building a steel scaffold and is not yet open to the public. Visitors can only view the garden from a distance outside the wall and imagine its glorious beauty in days long past.