In fact the buildings were completed around 1919 or so, after the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, when a policy of urban improvement, mostly involving widening city streets, was undertaken.
大溪街屋的立面裝飾，大約完成於一九一九年前後。日本人在台灣各地實施「市區改正」（街道拓寬），拆屋拓路後，老式街屋的屋簷門面被削去大半，日人便鼓勵重新裝飾門面。