Sathon Mansion
The Sathon Mansion or Luang Chitchamnongwanit Mansion is a complex of historic buildings in Bangkok, Thailand. It was built in 1888 for Luang Sathonrachayut, the wealthy Chinese businessman who developed Sathon Road, and later served as the Hotel Royal, the Soviet embassy and, since 2015, a restaurant and entertainment venue for the W Bangkok hotel, known as The House on Sathorn.
History
The mansion was built in 1888, during the reign of King Chulalongkorn, for Luang Sathonrachayut, the wealthy Chinese businessman and government official who owned and developed the land around Khlong Sathon, and later served as the residence of Luang Chitchamnongwanit, his son-in-law. In 1910, Luang Chitchamnongwanit went bankrupt, and ownership of the mansion fell to the Privy Purse in 1916. King Vajiravudh bestowed the mansion to Chao Phraya Ram Rakhop, and later, in the 1920s, it became the site of the Hotel Royal, under the management of Madame Staro. In 1948, the property was leased to the USSR, and it served as the site of the Soviet embassy until the year 1999.The mansion underwent extensive renovations in the 2000s, as part of the development of the Sathorn Square office tower and the W Bangkok hotel, which now flank the mansion on each side. It reopened in July 2015 as a restaurant and entertainment venue for the W Bangkok, known as The House on Sathorn. The building complex received the ASA Architectural Conservation Award in the award of merit for the architecture and community heritage conservation category for the 2020–2021 year.