Yung See San Fong House, Historic residence in Los Gatos, California, United States.
The Yung See San Fong House is a residential structure in Los Gatos that combines oriental pagoda roofs and decorative elements with western architectural features. The building dates to 1917 and merges two distinct architectural traditions into a unified design.
Ruth Comfort Mitchell Young and Sanborn Young began building the house in 1916 on land given by her parents and completed it in 1917. Her play The Sweetmeat Game, which had opened earlier that year at the Palace Theatre, inspired the design. Sanborn Young was elected to the California State Senate after the house was finished.
Ruth Comfort Mitchell Young called the house a "bungahigh", her own term for a bungalow with Chinese taste. A winding approach road was laid out to keep the devil from finding the door, and a statue of the Chinese God of Rice and Plenty stands at the main gate. Inside, hand-carved wooden panels bear Chinese characters, and the rooms held Chinoiserie teak furniture, prints and embroideries.
The house is a private residence and not open to visitors; the exterior and the main gate, where the statue of the Chinese God of Rice and Plenty stands, can be seen from the road. The approach follows a deliberately winding road, a layout intended in Chinese tradition to keep the devil from finding the house.
The house was a noted gathering place during Sanborn Young's time as Senator and attracted high-profile visitors. Among the guests were President Herbert Hoover and film actresses Joan and Constance Bennett.
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