Bank Of Taiwan, C Housing, Shantzuhou, Taipei, Taiwan

There is an effort to renovate and retain approximately 141 homes, villas, and dormitories within 13.88 hectares (About 34.3 acres) of land in Yangmingshan.

The explosive growth of the Chinese Culture University, with approximately 28,000 students is the main impetus behind this project. 

About four years ago, the Bank Of Taiwan, which owns the land on which these structures exist, had a plan. It was to auction most of sections "C", "F" and parts of section "H" in what is called the Shantzouhou (Shantsuhou) housing area.

The housing in these areas were built in the1950s for U.S. military families. With the end of the Vietnam War, and eventual withdrawal of the official U. S. military presence by 1979, the need for this housing no longer existed.

Not that these areas were completely abandoned, but the need for these housing areas was seen as mainly nostalgic. The Chinese Culture University began expansion on both the east and west sides of the main road going through the village.

Section "E" housing has been replaced with a large building between HePing Road and JingShan Road. Other areas began to shrink as well.

Now these areas have been designated as cultural landmarks. Efforts are underway to renovate the areas. The goal is to restore architecturally the landmarks as they once were.

Fortunately, LTC Scott Ellinger has been inside many of these buildings and you can see the results by clicking HERE. Some of the interiors are in decent shape, others are in ruins.

The area that will be shown below is considered the C-Housing area. It is adjacent to, and sometimes overlaps section "F" housing. Don Wiggins posted this link on his USTDC blog on September 24, 2010. Try the slideshow.

The information for this post came partially from www.taiwan-panorama.com, December, 2006 and www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw, February, 2008. The original articles came from taipeiairstation.blogspot in October 2008. 

For the latest on the housing areas in Yangmingshan, check Kent Mathieu's TaipeiAirStation.blogspot post of October 6, 2010 and Don Wiggins' USTDC.blogspot posts of September 13, 2010 and September 6, 2010. 

"C" Housing and the departed "E" Housing can be seen on LTC Ellinger's map. Again we have him and Don Wigggins' USTDC post on September 17, 2010 to thank. 

Between HePing and JingShan Roads is a large expansion of the Chinese Culture University. Section "E" housing was completely leveled.

By approaching this sign and little triangular area of land we find the unofficial entrance to C-Housing.

This gives a better view of the entrance

The 7-Eleven across the street is south of the other 7-Eleven. These stores are all over Taipei. These 2 are just a few hundred yards apart!

If the grass is mowed and the shrubs are cut, then the houses are occupied. Most of what could be seen following Google Earth are in relatively good shape.

The homes are at least 1300 square feet in space. All have metal carports. This one may be vacant.

Painted red brick and an interior fireplace are the rule with C-Housing.

This house may be on a corner lot. It has plenty of room for parking. The typical and distinctive characteristics of C-Housing can be readily seen.

The homes are all  brick and siding or stucco painted red and white with a carport. The roof lines are not highly pitched.

When a house doesn't have a carport roof, chances are it may be vacant.

Some of these homes may be where LTC Ellinger took some of his interior shots.

Taipei European School, Taipei, Taiwan

At the intersection of ZhongYong Road and JianYe Road, the street to the right shows more of H-Housing and the back road to Grass Mountain. Going straight ahead on JianYe Road leads to the Taipei European School.

The main reason these pictures are shown is that somewhere in this area once was the Grass Mountain movie theater and the grill, run by Smiley, a man everyone knew. A bowling alley consisting of 2 lanes was in the same building as Smiley's.

AFNT was also in this general area.  Our friend Jack and his family lived behind us on Daheng Road. Jack could be heard nightly on AFNT-FM. We both liked hearing Peggy Lee.

Maybe someone remembers approximately where they were located. The theater had fewer than 100 seats. There were so many theaters around Taipei where each movie made a stop. We would go to the Tien Mou theater or Grass Mountain in case we missed the showing at the East Compound theater. 




Turning right keeps you on ZhongYong Road. At the left is JianYe Road. One of the signs is for an insurance agency.

 

Turning right begins the narrow, winding back road to the Grass Mountain site. Back in 1969, we used it sparingly since it was not only narrow, but also was mostly loose gravel. As best as I can recall, we were forced to use it for a week or so when a mudslide closed the front gate road.

Proceeding straight ahead on JianYe Road, we eventually come to a fork in the road. As Yogi Berra would say, "Take it!"

Turning left at the fork takes us to the Taipei European School and several other buildings.

This busy road is a dead end.

School is out for the day, and the kids await the cars and buses to take them home.

The buses arrive and load up.