Moller Villa - A legendary building with over 80 years of history

Moller Villa, located at No. 30, South Shaanxi Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, is a garden villa with a strong Nordic style. In 1927, it was commissioned by British Jew Moller to the famous Huagai Architectural Firm at the time, and was completed in 1936. The main building is a three-story Scandinavian-style Norwegian-style building, just like a castle in a fairy tale world. In 1941, Moller left China, leaving behind this 'dream castle' that could not be taken away. After the liberation of Moller Villa, it was nationalized and used by the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League. It is now used by the Hengshan Moller Villa Hotel. There is a legend behind this villa: In 1926, Moller's daughter Diana had a magical dream. She dreamed that she turned into a beautiful princess and owned a 'castle like Andersen's fairy tale'. After waking up, Diana immediately drew the castle in her dream and showed it to her father. When Erik saw his daughter's painting, he, who always loved his daughter, immediately made a decision to fulfill his daughter's dream of a castle. So Moller began to design and build the Moller Villa in 1927, which took nearly 10 years, and the villa was completed in 1936. The main building of Moller Villa is in the Nordic architectural style, facing south to the north, with a 3-story mixed structure. The shape is varied, the roof is steep, there are three tall spires, and the spire has specially made lead tiles; the outer wall is made of brown fire-resistant bricks, and the roof is red tiles.