A century-old house, renovated as old and rejuvenated
![](https://www.hzyyingyu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/test-15.jpg)
![](https://www.hzyyingyu.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/test-16.jpg)
Since the publication of the first report in the column “New things in Changhe Old Street”, the historical and cultural protection of the old street has attracted much attention. This week, Yao Hongqi, a resident of Changhe Old Street, contacted our reporter to tell the story of “No. 22 Ze Street”, a century-old house on Ze Street, and also called on everyone to care about the protection of the old house and inject new business forms and vitality into the old house.
From office buildings to pastry shops and old houses of hardware factories, witness the rise and fall of old streets and bear homesickness
No. 22 Ze Street, a century-old house hidden in Changhe Historic and Cultural District.
Walking into the courtyard, the white walls and grey tiles, the carved corbel can’t see the faces of the wooden figures clearly, but the flowers, grass, birds and fish on the eaves are still lifelike. “Just look at the style of this house, it can be regarded as a large family.” Zhang Wei, director of the Fourth Building Heritage Office of the Zhejiang Institute of Ancient Architecture Design and Research, pointed to the main hall of the old house and said that according to the building style of the old house, the old house should be more than 100 years old.
Although it is not as well-known as the “nine halls and thirteen halls”, nor as familiar as the old houses on the Huaihe River, it, like most of the old houses on the old street, is engraved with the noise and silence of the old street, and carries the wandering dreams.
Uncle Yao, 69, has a good relationship with this old house.
In the 1970s, this old house was the office room of the supply and marketing cooperatives in Changhe Town. Uncle Yao, who worked in the supply and marketing cooperatives, came here for meetings every week. “As soon as you enter the door, there are two or three bicycles parked in the yard, and the wing room on the right side is our finance and accounting room.” Uncle Yao said that the building of the supply and marketing cooperative had not been built at that time, and the twelve or three people in charge of administration were working in the state-owned public house at 22 Ze Street. “There was no major change in the layout of the house, but at that time, the floors on the first and second floors were all made of wood, and there would be a ‘creaking’ noise when walking.”
“Probably after 1983, when the building of the supply and marketing cooperative was built, we moved out. After that, the old house became a cake shop of a collective store.” Uncle Yao said, “fragrant cakes, banana cakes, pretzels, sesame cakes… especially in the morning, the cakes came out of the oven, let alone how fragrant!”
With the pace of urbanization, Changhe Old Street has changed from the original “town center” to “city street”. After the silence, the old house became the warehouse of the department store wholesale department, and then became a hardware processing factory. “This hardware factory has been working for almost ten years. Later, when the factory moved away, the house became vacant.”
From employees of supply and marketing cooperatives to department store owners, Uncle Yao spent more than 40 years in Changhe Old Street. “I heard that the old street is going to be upgraded, but I don’t know what will happen to this old house?” Uncle Yao said. I really hope Binjiang can improve the style of the old street, use the old house, and promote tourism. “With more people coming, the old house and the old street can also live.”
The future of 46 old houses is just around the corner
Uncle Yao’s expectations are coming true.
In June this year, Binjiang District launched the improvement and renovation project of the Changhe Historic and Cultural District, and renovated 46 state-owned old houses, including No. 22 Ze Street, with an area of about 3866 square meters.
It is more difficult to repair old houses than to build new ones. How to restore the style of the old street and protect these old houses? Binjiang invited the Zhejiang Institute of Ancient Architecture Design and Research to participate in the renovation of the old house.
Having taken on the task of protecting the old street and repairing the old houses, Zhang Wei walked into the old houses without stopping to “check the pulse” for the old houses.
Zhang Wei is a member of the expert pool of the State Administration of Cultural Relics, and participated in the repair and protection of ancient buildings in the historical and cultural district of the west of the bridge and the ancient town of Tangqi. This summer, he did not know how many times he went to the old street, “You see, the columns and beams of the side frame are semi-embedded in the wall, which is the traditional practice of local folk houses. The advantages are that the wood material can be slightly smaller and the cost of building construction can be saved, but the disadvantages are also obvious. The embedded beams and columns are more prone to decay, and the replacement is more difficult.”
Zhang Wei said that there is a common problem in the old wooden houses, that is, the beams and columns are easy to be eaten by insects. “When some columns are replaced, half of the diameter is empty!” Zhang Wei said, not only to remove the hidden dangers that affect the safety of the house structure, but also to achieve minimal intervention. Therefore, they have made detailed plans for each old house being repaired in the first batch.
Zhang Wei looked up at the corbel and the moon beam on the west side of the main hall at No. 22 Ze Street. “In fact, we found that the wooden structure embedded in the wall had been decayed during the repair process. In order to protect the original component technology, we only kept the surface part of the carving and replaced it with new wood.”
When the old house was still a hardware factory, in order to facilitate the access of vehicles, the stone slabs in the courtyard and hall were paved with concrete floors. This time, the old slate floor reappeared. It is like the wrinkles on the face of the old house, telling the vicissitudes of a hundred years of history. After repair, activation and utilization is the future of the old house.
According to the site headquarters of the protection and development of the Changhe Historic and Cultural District, in the future, No. 22 Ze Street will become a cultural space integrating the display, research and leisure of artisan works. Visitors can drink a cup of coffee in the old house of “Great Hidden in the City”, watch the works of artisans, and participate in handicraft production.
Let the old house look good and live well. The story of “saving” the old house and activating the old street in Binjiang is unfinished. At present, the site headquarters for the protection and development of the Changhe Historic and Cultural District is looking for “new owners” for the old houses, planning the tourism format, injecting new stories into the old houses and old streets, and exploring a new future.
In the near future, the old house will usher in a magnificent transformation, and the poetic Changhe Old Street will be coming here
New ideas on the old street
Changhe Old Street hides the “root” and “soul” of culture. It is suggested that in the future, we should continue to refine the flavor of Changhe Old Street, increase the display of the old street culture, and let the culture of Changhe Old Street be seen and felt. At the same time, it is suggested to integrate Changhe Old Street with Guanshan culture and Baima Lake culture tourism, strengthen the construction of tourism belt, and do a good job in this article.
——Fu Yougang, representative of Binjiang District People’s Congress
The Changhe Old Street is not only the T-shaped business district formed by the Ze and Huai Second Streets, the high-level residential buildings represented by the “nine halls and thirteen halls”, but also many ancient buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties scattered in the ancient town. Together with mountains, rivers, pools and roads, it has witnessed the formation and development of the Changhe Old Town, and can also more comprehensively reflect the characteristics of the Changhe Ancient Town. It is hoped that we can deeply explore the history and culture of the old houses, systematically protect the old buildings in the old streets, and explore a way to coordinate the protection and utilization of the old houses, commerce and residence, management and innovation.
——Zhang Wei, member of the expert pool of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage
By Meng Jiao, Qian Yuan, Song Juli, Xiao Xiaotong, Shi Weizhong, Chen Chonglai, Jiatu, Jiao Jun