Rumah Banda Hilir (3)

Address: 262-T Banda Hilir

In ancient maps, Banda Hilir was written as Banda Ilir.

From Bapak:
We don't know when exactly the house was built, probably in 1900s. The house belonged to datok Mohd Sharif. He willed: "Wasiat 'Rumah Abu' (rumah wakaf) untuk keturunannya, with no conditions attached."

However, when Haji Mohd Sharif died, Haji Abdul Rahim (anak Haji Nordin) said, "last person alive longest, Banda Hilir house becomes his property."

Rumah Banda Hilir was built in 2 stages:-
1. The hind quarters was built first
2. The front house was built later

There was a well in a lower annex to the big house, attached to the rear quarters.

There was also a small nipah hut (bangsal nipah) measuring approximately 6 feet x 9 feet which was where Mohd Yusope (Walid) and his wife (Aishah bt Mohd Amin/Nenek Inche) lived. The couple did not sleep in the main house; they slept in the small hut.

Bapak stayed at rumah Banda Hilir in 1942, during World War II (WWII).

The house had 3 parts:
1. The hind quarters
2. The front house
3. A middle brick portion which was later cemented.



Front facade of house, nearest Masjid Banda Hilir (now Masjid An-Nur whose roof edge/eave can be seen at top right corner of this photo)

Middle brick portion that joins the rear quarters to the front house. The rear portion is facing the seated children. The front house is behind the children. The bathroom is to the left in this photo. The entrance to this brick portion is a whitewashed wooden double Dutch door to the right in this photo. This brick portion has always been painted white while the 2 quarters have always been painted with black castor oil and appears black.