Homemade renaissance

However, Xiang believed that as well as renovating the house, it was also essential to come up with a way to utilize it, otherwise it would just deteriorate again.

"After all, we might go back only once or twice a year, and it would likely be a short stay each time," Xiang says.

"We regarded it as a waste and against our values if it were left idle."

Therefore, Xiang tapped into his expertise in cultural industries and set his sights on transforming the house into a multifunctional facility offering local culture, training and inspiration for young artists and makers from across the country and even abroad.

"We started by tapping into our family's past," Xiang says.

He traced and recovered historical items, such as correspondence with prominent educators left by his grandfather who attended the University of Nanking in today's Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

Xiang integrated them into the decoration of the family home to highlight the spirit of paying great attention to social advancement and doing charitable things such as raising money to dig aqueducts to benefit the locals.

At the same time, local ethnic Tujia elements and folk customs were incorporated into the new cultural facility.

Showcase for creativity

After several years of reconstruction, the property opened to the public in 2019. Since it sits amid farmland and fields of blooms, the two brothers named it the House of Florefields.

Arriving at the house via a narrow path and then ascending a few stone steps, one beholds walls crafted from gray bricks, river stones, and rammed earth. The eaves are supported by over 10 solid wooden columns, and the courtyard is paved with bluestone slabs.

The surroundings are embellished with emerald bamboo, green pine trees and red flowers.

The entire building draws inspiration from the architectural style of Peking University's Yannan Garden that was built in the 1920s, integrating the folk style of dwellings in the eastern part of Sichuan, Xiang explains.

"It blends art into the rural setting, allowing the courtyard to showcase cultural elements," he says.