Melaka Townhouse Characteristics

• Terraced Buildings (some time detached building could be found outside urban areas)

• Single, two or three storey• Narrow fronts and deep rears• Two or three blocks separated with

airwells and with or without fore court & rear court

• Living rooms at front block & praying alter in second block of ground floor. Family dining, kitchen, bath room & toilet at rear block

• Bedrooms at first floor and/or second floor

• Internal timber structure : up-stair’s floor board, ceiling & roof structure, doors & windows

• Load bearing brick & brick party walls

• Clay brick/terracotta roof profile• Front private veranda (no

continuous five-footway like shophouses).

• Building print up to street line (no set-back)

• Lime plaster and lime-wash paint

Dutch Period Early Malacca Town House, Jonker StreetThe door and windows at the side wall (party wall) were later added. Openings are normally not permitted at party wall.

Early Malacca Town House, Jalan Bukit Cina(The unit on the right may retain the original Dutch period door and upper window whiles unit on the left might has change the door and windows to a more Chinese

style house for front entrance, and Malay style tall windows)

Malay Town Houses, Kampung Ketek / Kampung Hulu

Malacca Peranakan Town Houses, Heeren Street

Southern Chinese Style

Chinese Courtyard Mansion (1850s-1900s)

Southern Chinese Eclectic Style Town Houses, Jonker Street

Dutch Period Chinese Style (1850s-1900s)

Cut and Paste Chinese Porcelain (Chien Nien) Motif on the façade of Peranakan Town Houses

Early Straits Eclectic Style (1880s – 1910s)

Late Straits Eclectic Style (1910s-1930s)

Late Straits Eclectic Style, 1930s

Early Straits Eclectic Style, Early 1920s

British Period Chinese Town Houses, Jalan Bukit China (1920s). Utilitarian Style

Late Straits Eclectic Style, late 1920s

Late Straits Eclectic Style, Late 1920s

Late Straits Eclectic Style, Late 1920s

Late Straits Eclectic Style, Late 1920s

Malacca Early Town House, 1850s(With typical Dutch period front door and ‘lip-window’ and upper casement window with

large and long dark iron hinges)

‘Lip Window’, Malacca Early Town House

Private Verandah of Malacca Town Houses

Terracotta Floor Tiles Decorative Floor Tiles

Malacca Early Town House

Decorative Floor TilesTerracotta Floor Tiles

Air Well (inner court) in Malacca Town Houses for ventilation & lighting

Contemporary design of inner court (air well) in Malacca Town Houses

Cross Section of A typical Town Houses in Penang & Malacca.