This palace was built between 1900 and 1906 to house the French Governor-General of Indochina and stands behind wrought iron gates flanked by sentry boxes. The only visual cue that this distinctive European building is located in Vietnam is the mango trees growing in the grounds. See Photo.
The Palace is inextricably linked to Vietnam's French colonial past, so much so that when Ho Chi Minh took over Hanoi and the rest of North Vietnam, he declined to live in the overtly luxurious parts of the palace, choosing instead the servants' quarters behind the building – see photo. The furnishings were very simple but not austere.
While the Palace remains strictly off-limits to visitors, the expansive garden and pond at the rear are truly spectacular – see photos. A footpath called "Mango Alley" leads from the visitors' entrance, around a carp pond, to the stilt house that served as Ho Chi Minh’s office and residence from 1958 to his death in 1969.
The design of "Uncle Ho's Stilt House" is based on traditional houses from Northwest Vietnam, which reminded Ho (it is said) of the houses in which he took refuge from the French while he was still a revolutionary.
There are only two rooms in the Stilt House, both of which are no larger than a hundred square feet, and still contain Ho's personal effects. The area under the main deck of the house was used as an office and reception area for important guests.
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