Yin Yu Tang, an ancient Chinese house with a history of more than 200 years, has become the most honored collection among the historical architectural protection listing of the Peabody Essex Museum in the United States since it was transferred in the late 1990s from its original place in central China's Anhui Province and rebuilt in the new location across the oceans.

Yin Yu Tang, an ancient Chinese house. [File photo/Chengdu Economic Daily]

The huge relocation project proceeded according to an agreement signed between the two countries, the Chengdu Economic Daily reported on Tuesday.

Origin and evolution of ancient Chinese residence

Yin Yu Tang was built between 1800 and 1825 and originally located at the small village of Huangcun near Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province. The region is well known throughout the country for the success of its numerous merchants and the history of characteristic architecture. Many villages in the region are filled with ancient houses, some of which have been torn down to make way for modern structures.

Covering an area of more than 400 square meters, Yin Yu Tang was a spacious residence made up of 16 rooms and halls, a courtyard, a fish pond and exterior walls. It is an outstanding example of renowned Huizhou-style architecture, presenting such regional characteristics as "horse-head" exterior walls higher than the roofs; a "sky-well" interior courtyard enclosed by housing; and exquisite indoor wood, brick and stone carvings.

The owner of Yin Yu Tang was the Huang family whose succeeding generations lived here for nearly 200 years until the late 1980s, when its family members gradually moved away from their rural home to find jobs and live in modern buildings in surrounding towns and cities.

In 1996, Nancy Berliner, a scholar and curator of the Chinese Art and Culture Department of the Peabody Essex Museum, was travelling in China with her colleagues when she came upon the empty Yin Yu Tang house. She became captivated at first sight. During a return visit later that year, Huang family members happened to be there and decided immediately to put the house up for sale.