Min Ssi House in Gwanhun-dong

The house at 30-1, Gwanhun-dong is of unknown date and builder, but it is one of several houses that Min Yeong-hwi had built for his family after he moved from Anguk-dong to Gyo-dong in 1895, buying up land in the area to settle his relatives there. Min Yeong-hwi, his principal wife, and his adopted eldest son Min Hyeong-sik lived at 64 Gyeongun-dong. His concubine, known as Haeju mama An Yu-pung, and Min Dae-sik, the son born to Min Yeong-hwi and An Yu-pung, lived at 30 Gwanhun-dong and, from 1924, at Jukdonggung (Jukdong Palace) at 198 Gwanhun-dong — the residence once occupied by Empress Myeongseong's elder brother Min Seung-ho and her nephew Min Yeong-ik. Min Dae-sik's eldest son Min Byeong-su lived at 198 Gwanhun-dong before moving to 30 Gwanhun-dong. Min Byeong-do, the adopted son of Min Dae-sik's second son Min Cheon-sik (who died young), lived at 68 and 71 Gyeongun-dong, while Min Byeong-ok and Min Byeong-wan, sons born to Min Dae-sik and a Chinese woman of the Na clan, lived at 66 Gyeongun-dong. In this way the Min Yeong-hwi family lived clustered together across the Gyeongun-dong and Gwanhun-dong area. Around 1923 Min Yeong-hwi bought Jukdonggung at 198 Gwanhun-dong for Haeju mama, and it passed to her eldest son Min Dae-sik; in exchange, Min Yun-sik — Min Yeong-hwi's eldest daughter, who had divorced in 1922 and returned to her family home — nominally purchased 30 Gwanhun-dong in 1924 and came to live there, although her nephews, Min Dae-sik's sons including Min Byeong-su, were still living at 30 Gwanhun-dong. As of 1936 there were six timber-and-tile buildings and a two-storey Western-style house at 30 Gwanhun-dong, but some of these were later lost, and by 1976 only part of the main hall and a gate quarters — two timber-and-tile buildings — remained; this house was designated a Seoul folk cultural heritage in 1977. In 1966 Min Yun-sik gave the house to her son Lee Hong-jae, who in 1967 bequeathed it to his six children — Lee Jeon-wan, Lee Jin-seung, Lee Mun-seung, Lee Jeong-wan, Lee Gyu-seung and Lee Sa-yeong — so that ownership passed to Min Yeong-hwi's descendants through his daughter's line. In 1979 it was sold at auction to four people, Park Seung-gyu, Lee Jin-hwan, Seong Sang-ho and Yu Dae-yeol, ending its association with the Min family. Ownership then changed hands several more times: to Dongbuk Construction Co. in 1980, to Yu Jeong-sun (provisional registration) in 1983, to Chohung Bank (provisional registration) in 1983, to Daewang Heungeop Co. (provisional registration) in 1984, and to Gyeongin Museum of Art in 1986. While the house belonged to Gyeongin Museum of Art, part of the main hall and the gate quarters were relocated and restored to Namsangol Hanok Village between 1995 and 1998, where they stand today.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jung-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Folklore Heritage · 시도민속문화유산