Rumah Banda Hilir (2)

Some photos to show what Rumah Banda Hilir looked like. It was built by my great-grandfather, Hj Mohd Sharif, circa 1896-1899. It had 3 sections - front, middle and rear. It was pretty when I lived there after I was born, from 1958 to 1963. When I returned to visit the house after I got married in 1983, the house was dilapidated and falling apart. The house was demolished in 2007. When I revisited the third time in 2016, the house was gone and a new extension of Masjid Banda Hilir (Masjid An-Nur) had taken over the site of Rumah Banda Hilir. I was shocked beyond belief!

Rumah Banda Hilir (front facade) in 1963. The house featured a wooden Minangkabau front facade with a white brick staircase, called 'tangga Melaka' (Malacca staircase). 



Rumah Banda Hilir. Inside the rear section in 1963.

Rumah Banda Hilir, 1983 onwards. The rear section at left was falling apart and overgrown with rose bushes. The front section with earthen roof tiles (genting batu) at right was still intact.

Rumah Banda Hilir, 1983 onwards. The front section was still intact. This photo shows a side profile of the front right section (anjung), with a typical white-washed brick Malacca stairs (tangga Melaka) at right.

Differently-styled roofs of Rumah Banda Hilir (front section). The roof on the left was more elaborate and looked like that of Rumah Minangkabau of West Sumatra, with 2 airholes for the attic (loteng). The roof on the right was the less elaborate roof of the anjung - visitor's entrance and holding area.

Middle section of Rumah Banda Hilir with white brick walls, Chinese-styled white staircase (tangga Melaka) and white-washed wooden Dutch door. This middle section was always whitewashed and had always been painted white. The middle section separated and also joined the front section to the rear section. Behind the Dutch door was a large brick (cement) floor which served as a clothes drying area (tempat sidai baju). The middle section had a large bathroom with an adjoining pool (kolam) and a small green Chinese porcelain window was added in the 1960s (I could tip-toe to view Masjid Banda Hilir while bathing). The pool was half in the bathroom and half outside the bathroom - the part of the pool outside was always covered. The middle section had no roof except over half the bathroom and fully covered the kitchen wash area. The building at right is the front section of the house (nearest and facing Masjid Banda Hilir). Some red croton plants were planted around the entire periphery of the house.