Delamonde Residence

Hidden in the center of Shanghai, the European-style private estate, once known as Wen Estate (now called Delamonde Residence), is located at No. 7 Dasheng Alley, Lane 263, Huashan Road. It was built in 1899. Despite the numerous upheavals of the 20th century, it has been fortunately preserved to this day. Mr. Delamonde, originally known as Wen, was the most famous British barrister in Shanghai at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Born in London in 1841, his father was a clergyman. In 1870, he was appointed as a barrister and practiced in Hong Kong for two years before coming to Shanghai. He had close relations with Chinese court officials and provided a wealth of information to the British mission in China during the Boxer Rebellion, receiving high recognition from the authorities. In 1889, at the request of the International Settlement, he established a committee and served as its chairman, raising 50,000 pounds worldwide for famine relief in China, for which he was awarded the second highest honor medal by the Qing court. He passed away in Shanghai in 1915. The Delamonde building faces south and is a British red-brick structure, a pseudo-three-story Victorian-style old mansion with a double-slope duplex zigzag roof. The main entrance porch and the second-floor porch protrude, topped with a brick Baroque-style decoration. Each side of the roof has a pair of triangular gables, connecting the exquisite balcony on the upper floor and the short outer corridor on the first floor, making the facade rich and vivid.