Many well-off families in Hanoi have spent their money on renovating old stilt houses from mountainous regions and relocating them to the city’s outskirts as weekend homes.

A stilt house taken from Hoa Binh Province to Thach That District in Hanoi

Over the past decade, the appearance of Phu Cat and Hoa Thach Communes in Quoc Oai District, have had quickly-changing landscapes, giving these areas the feel of highlands villages.

Hundreds of stilt houses have been built in these communes, and the number is on the rise.

Original design preserved

Pham Dang Huynh, the person in charge of designing and building many of these properties, said that most of the owners have main residences in the city.

For such projects, a lot of time, effort and money is spent on searching for the right house in mountainous areas. Almost all stilt houses in Phu Cat and Hoa Thach Communes were taken from highlands villages in the northern mountainous provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La and Lao Cai. The older a stilt house is, the more expensive they tend to be.

A stilt house from Son La Province taken to Hanoi’s Phu Cat Commune

Bui Dinh Nam, a locally famous expert in the stilt house reconstruction and trade, located in Phu Cat Commune, said, “Sometimes, I have had to stay several months in Son La in order to find suitable house for my clients."

He said that the fad was not so big in the beginning, but has since taken off.

Hundreds of stilt houses in Phu Cat Commune

Nguyen Van Thu, the owner of one such properties, said, “I decided to build this style of house in order to design a place for my family to relax during weekend, after hard working weeks in the city. I restored the house because we prefer to live like ethnic people on the weekends."

Nguyen Xuan, a caretaker of a stilt house properties around Hanoi, said that his boss only visits around once a month.

The local communities still sometimes find the habits of the city-dwellers strange, and many say that there is a lack of communication between the community and the urban transplants.

Simple designs

Modern stilt houses

Appearances of a highlands village