At that time Taiwan was under Japanese occupation. Hung Chien-wan saw Japanese-style buildings being erected while traditional Chinese ones were demolished. This prompted him to build a Chinese-style house and garden.
當時，台灣正值日據時代，洪見萬在財力漸豐之後，眼看日式房屋一棟棟蓋起，而中國傳統的建築卻日趨式微，於是決定蓋一間純中國式的宅第。