US Embassy Main Residence

KCCT led the renovation design of a turn-of-the-century mansion for us as the US Embassy Main Residence in Hanoi. The residence is located in the historic heart of French colonial Hanoi, a neighborhood that hosts an eclectic mix of early 20th-century residential styles. The building is listed on the Secretary of State’s Register of Culturally Significant Property, and the renovation was featured by Architectural Digest.

The two floors of the residence are elevated on a basement story and crowned with a full-story mansard roof resulting in an effective height of four stories. The construction is brick masonry with plain stucco finished walls above the rusticated basement. Balustered terraces, bracketed balconies, columned loggias, and a variety of shuttered French doors, windows, and dormers ornament the exterior. Stylized gates and grills provide openings at the basement level.

The lavish interiors incorporate hardwood, mosaic tile and local glazed tile for the floor finishes. Crown molding and chair rails decorate the plaster walls in the representational rooms. There are fireplaces in six of the rooms.

KCCT met with local officials to coordinate requirements for utility use, building and zoning codes and historic structures modifications and with local contractors to discuss indigenous construction methods and materials.

The restoration returned the mansion to its original splendor while providing modern living conveniences. Changes to the grounds surrounding the residence established usage zones and provided visual separations between the public forecourt, the private rear garden, and the service area in the side yard. The plan also necessitated security upgrades to convert the house into an official diplomatic residence.