Longtan Monster House 龍潭怪怪屋

Longtan Monster House (龍潭怪怪屋) is a notorious architectural oddity on the northern edge of Longtan in Taoyuan, Taiwan. In Chinese it is also known as Yè Fābāo’s Monster House (葉發苞怪屋), after its owner and lead designer, and is officially named the Yeshan Building (葉山樓). It has been under construction for decades but at some point the money ran out and the owner has plastered it with advertisements, ostensibly to raise money to complete the project. Nowadays there is little to see beneath the incredible number of promotional banners hanging off the side of the building.

Yeshan Building from the back — Longtan Monster House from the back garden. I suppose it is better to be obscured by trees than garish advertisements.

A closer look at the back of Yeshan Building

Longtan Weird House from across the street — Longtan Monster House from across the street. This is the intersection of several major roads and the main way out of town heading north.

Until very recently I was living in Zhongli, about 12 kilometers north of Longtan, so I made a point of riding over to check it out despite having heard that there wasn’t much to see anymore. And it’s true—visiting this place was a real disappointment. It could have been something fantastical out of a Hayao Miyazaki film, instead it’s a garish monstrosity that nobody should go out of their way to see. Since I went to all the trouble of taking a few photos I figure I may as well add it to my growing catalogue of roadside oddities here in Taiwan.

Dusky skies over Longtan Weird House — So many advertisements. Seems like an awful waste of what might have been a cool place to visit.

Yeshan Building at sundown — A closer look at another corner of the building. I like the little piece of a balcony protruding from one of the ads.

A closer look at the Longtan Weird House — Here you can clearly see the alphabetical flourishes on the top balcony.

Around back at Longtan Building — The back of the building from the ground floor.

Naturally this place has seen extensive coverage in the Chinese language media and blogosphere; for examples, try here, here, here, here, and here. The owner still plans to finish construction from the sounds of it so who knows, maybe it will be cool again one day.