Presidential Palace


Auguste-Henri Vildieu
1900-1906




This French colonial building was originally the living and working headquarters for the Governor General of Indochina. After Vietnam's defeat of the French in 1954, Ho Chi Minh refused to live here, preferring instead the modest cottage on the Palace's grounds (from 1954 to 1958). In 1958, he moved into the house on stilts.

Oblique view of the front

During Ho Chi Minh's leadership, the palace was used, however, for meetings and to house guests; today it is used for formal and important government meetings.
 
This bright mustard building, though a French colonial building, bears a resemblance to Italianate Renaissance and Baroque palaces. The second floor (the piano nobile) is the important formal floor with a grand stairway leading to the arched portal. Quoins, broken pediments, elaborate columns, and aedicules with balustrades are common in architecture of the 16th and 17th century in Italy.
 

View of the side and the formal gateway
 

The House where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked from 1954 to 1958

This modest cottage is on the grounds with the Presidential Palace. It is adjacent to the house on stilts that Ho Chi Minh lived in from 1958 to 1969 and to the fishing pond.


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© 2004 Mary Ann Sullivan. I have photographed (on site), scanned, and manipulated all the images on these pages. Please feel free to use them for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes.

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