罗别根花园, Historic country villa in Changning, Shanghai, China

Robegen Garden is an English country villa at 2310 Hongqiao Road in Changning District, Shanghai, named after nearby Luobiegen Road (now Hami Road). Built in 1931 for property magnate Victor Sassoon, it is a two-storey brick-and-timber house of about 960 square metres, with steep red-tiled roofs, whitewashed walls facing south, exposed timber framing and a two-level balcony at the centre of the facade.

Built in 1931 for real-estate magnate Victor Sassoon, the villa was named after nearby Luobiegen Road (now Hami Road). Because foreigners could not hold land outside the Shanghai concessions, Sassoon's firm bought the 20-mu site in 1930 through the Chinese-owned Dazhong Industrial Company. After 1937 it passed to the Japanese army, then to Zhao Zhimo, Jin Zhaohai and the Yinfeng Woolen Textile Company; Sassoon's postwar lawsuit to recover it failed.

The name comes from Luobiegen Road, today's Hami Road, which the villa stood near. The house was long used as a convalescent home for workers in the textile system after the Shanghai Textile Bureau took it over in 1956. Staff now keep the grounds, growing vegetables in the former garden and raising chickens, cats and dogs.

The villa stands at 2310 Hongqiao Road in Changning District, near the former Hongqiao golf club; it is named after Luobiegen Road, today's Hami Road. The building is vacant and fenced, its garden partly turned into vegetable plots, so it is viewed from outside rather than entered. Two caretakers live on site.

The garden was bought in 1930 under the name of a Chinese citizen, Xing Dingcheng, through the Dazhong Industrial Company, because foreigners could not hold land outside the Shanghai concessions. Sassoon's firm acquired 20 mu near the golf club and 104 mu by Chengjiaqiao Bridge, building Luobiegen Garden on one plot and the Eden garden on the other.