House of Tan Yeok Nee 2.26

The House of Tan Yeok Nee is a mansion building located at the corner of Penang Road and Clemenceau Avenue in the Museum Planning Area in Singapore. Today, the building is being used as the Asian campus for the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.HistoryThe mansion belonged to Chaozhou-born businessman Tan Yeok Nee who built it in 1885. It is the only survivor of the Four Mansions (四大厝) built in the late 19th century. Tan Yeok Nee was born in 1827. To escape poverty in his village, he came to the region of Southeast Asia then known as Nanyang where he traded textiles. Later, he planted pepper and spices in Johor and became a port owner. In addition, Tan joint ventured with another Teochew tycoon, Tan Seng Bo, and Chang, a Hoklo (Hokkien) leader, in the then legal opium and liquor trades. Three years later, Tan Yeok Nee immigrated to Singapore, where he built this "House of Administration". He soon amassed a great fortune through his involvement with his trades and the ownership of lucrative property.