Saigon’s Old French Planter Villas

Despite the ongoing (criminal) destruction of colonial buildings in Saigon,  there’s still a small quarter of District 3 where it’s possible to identify villas which were once occupied by rich French rubber planters.

The area of District 3 bordered by Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa, Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Lê Quý Đôn and Võ Thị Sáu Streets has long been unofficially known as Saigon’s “rubber plantation district”. In the early 20^th century, many rich French rubber planters bought or rented homes in this area, close to the Saigon offices of companies like the Société Plantations des Terres Rouges, the Compagnie des Caoutchoucs de Padang, the Compagnie des Caoutchoucs d’An Vieng and the Compagnie des Caoutchoucs de Cambodge. All of these offices were located at nearby 236 Rue Mac-Mahon, now Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa, an address which even today is still home to the Rubber Research Institute of Vietnam (Viện Nghiên Cứu Cao Su Việt Nam) and the Vietnam Rubber Group (Tập Đoàn Công Nghiệp Cao Su Việt Nam)