Baba House
Restored Oriental Eclectic-Style Shophouse, Malacca
Your base for exploring this sight is the historic city of Malacca, in Malaysia. For travel information about Malacca, go to Malacca Travel Guide. To prepare yourself for a trip to Malaysia, read the AsiaExplorers Malaysia Travel Guide. Looking for budget accommodation in Malacca? You can find cheap clean rooms using our Malacca Budget Accommodation Guide
The Baba House is an example of how a traditional Straits Chinese or Peranakan townhouse is readapted for modern use as a hotel. Located at at 125-127 Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (formerly known as Heeren Street), The Baba House was once a home of the Straits Chinese elite. Indeed the name Heeren is Dutch to mean master or gentleman.
Entrance to Baba House.
The Straits Chinese, or Peranakan, is the name given to the Chinese people who are born in Malacca (and by extension in Penang and Singapore) who have absorbed the local cultural influences to create their own, unique culture. They have lived in Malacca continuously for 600 years, right from the time of the Malacca sultanate.
As the Straits Chinese community became affluent, they flaunt their wealth by erecting trophy houses. The choice address is Heeren Street, and there, they try to out-do one another in their ostentatious show of wealth. Today Heeren Street is renamed Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, after a prominent Straits Chinese politician and architect. The era of the Straits Chinese has long past, but their houses in Heeren Street remain as a treasured heritage to Malacca.
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