Suffolk House, Penang, Malaysia - Story and Dining Room Images

Hi Folks,

Allow me to introduce to you this very old historical building located in the city of George Town, Penang Malaysia. I have been restored to beautifully just like how it was before a few years ago. There is also a semi-fine dining restaurant that sits inside it now and I was recently given the opportunity to go over and shoot them.

Story of Suffolk House - Taken from it's welcoming "book" I created a while ago

As Sir Francis Light's Residence

The original Suffolk House served as Francis Light's residence and has been described as a simple Anglo-Indian Garden House style of timber and attap construction, built within his pepper estate called Suffolk. Light settled in the estate until his death in 1794.

Service to Colonial Britain

On the purchase of the land from Light's estate in 1805, William Edward Phillips began the works of a Georgian-styled mansion called Suffolk Park. He was not, at the time of the mansion's construction, governor to the island, but became so in later years. It was an ostentatious statement in a settlement with barely 120 European residents, many of whom were trades people and merchants. The mansion subsequently served as the residence of several more early governors for less than a quarter century, including William Edward Phillips' father-in-law, Governor Bannerman, amongst other Governors of Penang and the Governors of the Straits Settlements. The mansion also served as a venue for social and official functions. During the 1810s and 1820s, the mansion was a Government House that assumed the role as a meeting place for critical political discussions, including, most notably, discussions with Stamford Raffles regarding the founding of Singapore.

Service to the Methodist Boys' School

The mansion remained in use as a governor's residence until the completion of The Residency in 1890, after which it was relegated to general government functions before being sold to Mr Lim Cheng Teik. In 1928, Mr Lim sold the building and land to Reverend P.L. Peach of the Methodist Church of Malaya for $40,000 (Straits Settlement dollars) for the purpose of housing the Anglo-Chinese High School, later to become the local Methodist Boys' School. A smaller school building containing 12 classrooms was built near the original North Porch of the mansion in 1955. In 1956, the Methodist Church submitted plans to have Suffolk House demolished and to have new school buildings built over it. The then President of the Municipal Council, Mr John Sjovald Hoseasom Cunnyngham-Brown, persuaded the school to retain the mansion but build on the rest of the land. The main school building and another wing were completed later in 1956.
The building assumed various roles through its 46 years of ownership by the Methodist Church. In 1931, Standard Six students were transferred into the building, before the entire Primary School (Standards 1-6) eventually moved into it in 1945. World War II saw the building temporarily occupied by the Japanese administration. A dental clinic was later added to the building in 1953, and it also served as the Old Tuckshop (school canteen) until 1975. The building's rapid deterioration was noted since the 1950s, and in 1975, the building was declared unsafe and was vacated. Between then and its restoration in the 2000s, the building's roof and upper floor had collapsed.

Dispute of Construction and Ownership

The first owners of the Suffolk House remain disputed by two-quarters, which either claimed that the house was constructed in the early 1790s for Light, or constructed in 1809 for the subsequent governor of Penang, William Edward Phillips, about 15 years after Light's death. Historian F. G. Stevens, one of the main authorities on the early development of Penang, pointed out in a 1929 article "A Contribution to the Early History of Prince of Wales Island" that the road leading to the house from Air Itam Road was only "lined out but not made" in 1807, discounting the possibility that the house could have been built before then. Meanwhile, Light's will indicates that he bequeathed his common law wife, Martina Rozells, "the pepper gardens with my garden house, plantations and all the land by me cleared in that part of this island called Suffolk...", referring to either the house or estate, indicating that either or both assets already existed when Light died.

Architecture

The original house was simply a humble timber-and-attap garden house, fashioned in a simple Anglo-Indian Garden House style formerly common in British India. The current Suffolk House is a detached double-storey building of Euro-Indian Georgian styling.

Reopening to the public

After years of anticipation, Suffolk House finally opened its doors to the public in 2009. The house is now being managed by YKH Group of Restaurant under the watchful eyes of Badan Warisan Malaysia, a non-government organisation, which is concerned with the conservation and preservation of Malaysia's built heritage. The house and garden are open for public walkabout daily from 11 am to 6 pm (last entry at 5:30 pm). Admission costs RM20 for Adult, but children under six receive free entry. Children on school excursions also enter free. Guided tours are available by appointment for groups of ten or more visitors at a cost of RM15 per person (though discounts can be offered to school groups). Visitors may use the RM20 Admission ticket to redeem food and beverages worth up to RM20 at the restaurant located on the first floor of Suffolk House.

Did you know that the UK Hit TV series Indian Summers were also shot here? Yup, an interesting fact.

Indian Summers Wikipedia

Shots of the new look of their Dining Room Area i took recently

So, that's all for my post today. Hope you enjoy them, comment and let me know what you think. Share the yunk by resteeming!

Namaste, Have a great day ahead folks!
@killuminatic