Yi Bae-won House

About this place

Yi Bae-won House is an old traditional house in Hamna-myeon, Iksan, Jeollabuk-do, near Jo Hae-yeong's house and Kim Byeong-sun's old house, all of which together with their stone-and-earth walls and traditional Korean tile roofs maintain a traditional landscape. This house was built in 1917 by Yi Bae-won, the grandfather of the current caretaker, and he was one of the representative wealthy farmers of Hamna-myeon. In addition to the Yi household, at the time there were two other wealthy persons called 'man-seok-gun' (millionaires) in Hamna: the Kim household (Kim An-gyun's house) and the Jo household (Jo Hae-yeong's house). This house, built first among the three, served as a model for the Kim and Jo households and structural connections can be found in their floor plans. At the time of construction there were several buildings including the main wing, outer room, servants' quarters, gate wing, and storehouse, but currently only the main wing and outer room remain, along with the surrounding earth-and-stone walls. The outer room's interior has been remodeled and used as a Won Buddhist hall, and the main wing is relatively well-preserved except for the rear area where a standing kitchen was added.