Hualien Railway Division Director’s Residence

A Japanese colonial era official residence in Hualien City, built for the director of the Taiwan Railway Bureau’s Hualien management office. It is the grandest of a cluster of wooden railway dormitories that once formed a self-contained settlement. The single-storey house follows the Japanese-Western eclectic style: a Western colonnade frames the recessed entrance porch, while the body of the building keeps to traditional Japanese carpentry, its cypress-board walls and cement-tile roof still largely intact.

Varied hipped and gabled rooflines culminate in a decorative plover gable (千鳥破風) at the center, and a semi-enclosed verandah wraps the rear in the manner typical of Japanese houses. The grounds remain unusually complete, with a dragon juniper at the front gate, a pond and winding water channel behind, and a large air raid shelter beside the entrance. It was registered as a Hualien County historic building in 2004. As of 2026 the residence appears to have been restored, though it has not yet opened to the public.