Built 200 years ago for a wealthy merchant in the Chinese village of Huang Cun, Yin Yu Tang is the first house brought from China to the United States.
The 18th century house was built in southeastern China. John G. Waite Associates, Architects, and Liberty Street Restoration Company worked with American and Chinese craftsmen to disassemble and then reconstruct the home, brick by brick, timber by timber. The process of identifying and labeling each piece took three years.
The 4,500-square-foot building was named Yin Yu Tang, or Hall of Plentiful Shelter, to suggest that many generations of the Huang family would live within the fortress-like walls. Yin Yu Tang is now on display at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusettes, USA.
