With its cobalt-blue facade, the Blue House Cluster stands as one of the city's last surviving tong lau – aka those old-school wooden tenement buildings with cast-iron balconies.
Today the Blue House (and its adjoining Yellow, Orange and Green Houses) operates as a multifunctional heritage complex combining residential apartments with social enterprise restaurants plus an exhibition space and community center. The Hong Kong House of Stories is a local museum and neighborhood hub, preserving residents' collective memories, personal items and interviews about life in the 1920s.
Throughout its 100-year history, the Blue House has experienced numerous transformations, surviving World War II bombings and urban development. Its ground floor has been a martial arts studio, hospital, temple, grocery store, wine shop and bone-setting clinic. Despite cramped, crowded living areas, the building fostered a strong sense of community among its residents.
The Blue House was built atop a temple to the god of Chinese medicine, which was preserved within the new tenement. You can see the temple facade at the corner of King Sing St and Stone Nullah Lane.
