WANDER SHANGHAI

849 Huashan Road

Lilac Garden

丁香花园

Verandas, a dragon wall and contested origins

Lilac Garden combines Western houses and a Chinese garden. Guides and research disagree on early ownership and dates; a study using directories and newspapers challenges the familiar attribution to Li Jingmai.

Explore the historical timeline
Lilac Garden’s main house and garden; the view does not establish legendary ownership stories.

Capture date not stated by the source

Lilac Garden’s main house and garden; the view does not establish legendary ownership stories.

Image from the cited report or institutional source · Image source · Rights retained by the original creator

At a glance

Construction / use dates
Main-house dating disputed; building 3 dates to 1918
Architect
Not established in reviewed sources
Character
English-style villa and Chinese garden
Original use
Garden residence
Use and access
Institutional and dining uses; access follows current notices
Address
849 Huashan Road

Architecture and use: sources[1] [2] [3]

The beginning

Why was it built here?

Lilac Garden combines Western houses and a Chinese garden. Guides and research disagree on early ownership and dates; a study using directories and newspapers challenges the familiar attribution to Li Jingmai.[1] [2] [3]

Family legends are therefore not presented as settled facts. Separately documented layers include building 3 from 1918, building 2 added in 1952, and the main house’s historic-building listing in 1994.[1] [2] [3]

Look up, then look closer

Details worth a closer look

Space and facade

Timber verandas stretch across the main house’s south front; pitched roofs and exposed timber suggest a country villa. Water, pavilions, bridges and the dragon wall introduce Chinese garden vistas.[1] [2] [3]

Entrance and details

Building 3 differs through its semicircular projection, dormers and red tiles. Identify each building separately rather than combining them into one imaginary Lilac House.[1] [2] [3]

Building 3 at Lilac Garden, with its own form and construction date.

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Building 3 at Lilac Garden, with its own form and construction date.

Image from the cited report or institutional source · Image source · Rights retained by the original creator

One building, changing roles

Read the building through time

Captions distinguish photographic dates from publication dates; periods without reliable images are covered in the text.

  1. 1918

    Building 3 construction date

    Building 3 has its own recorded date, which should not be applied to every building in the garden.[1] [2] [3]

  2. 1952

    Building 2 added

    Building 2 was added to the existing garden, demonstrating the ensemble’s several construction phases.[1] [2] [3]

  3. 1994

    Main house listed

    The main house was listed; debates over its ownership do not prevent close observation of its surviving architecture.[1] [2] [3]

Today and visiting

Discover the building from the street

Institutional and dining uses; access follows current notices[1] [2] [3]

Address
849 Huashan Road
Access
View from public roads and permitted areas. Historic importance does not open residential gardens, stairs or institutional compounds to the public; follow posted access rules.
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Sources checked: 2026-10-26 · View from public roads and permitted areas. Historic importance does not open residential gardens, stairs or institutional compounds to the public; follow posted access rules.

Shanghai and the world

Building and neighbourhood

The street wall marks the edge of a large compound. Gates and trees reveal its setback; garden photographs do not imply that every view is visible from the pavement.[1] [2] [3]

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Text and image sources

This account is based on the sources below. Unverified details are identified as such. Where photographs are included, sources and licences are listed beneath each image.

  1. Shanghai Xuhui: historic buildings on Huashan Road ↗

    Checks dates, people, uses and architectural descriptions; reported uses belong to the source date.

  2. Eastday: research into Lilac Garden’s ownership (2021) ↗

    Checks dates, people, uses and architectural descriptions; reported uses belong to the source date.

  3. Shanghai Library: Lilac Garden architectural record ↗

    Checks dates, people, uses and architectural descriptions; reported uses belong to the source date.

Image handling and dating

Images come from the archives or image source pages listed beneath each photograph. We resize and compress them to WebP, preserving their original proportions without colourisation or added detail. Grain, blur and scanning marks in historical photographs are retained.

Publication and capture dates are distinct. Monochrome and file images are not automatically historical photographs; captions follow what the source establishes.