House of Chusa (추사고택)

House of Chusa, Chusa Gotaek in Korean, is the traditional Korean house of the renowned scholar and calligrapher Chusa, also known as Kim Jeong-hui. This old house is known to have been constructed by the great-grandfather of Chusa, Kim Han-Sin. The Korean-style house compound (266.11 m²) consists of munganchae (a guesthouse), soseuldaemun (a high gate), sarangchae (ㄱ-shaped men's quarters), anchae (ㅁ-shaped women’s quarters) and a shrine where the remains of Chusa are enshrined. Theㄱ-shaped Sarangchae stretches for one kan (traditional measuring unit) to the south and 2 kans to the east and is comprised of two rooms and a daecheongmaru (living area). The Anchae consists of a six-kan daecheongmaru and two one-kan rooms. Located on the ground is a tomb where Chusa’s great-grandfather (Kim Han-Sin) and his wife (Hwasun Princess) are buried. Nearby, visitors will see a gate that was constructed to commemorate Princess Hwasun’s faithfulness to her husband. Located approximately 600 meters to the north of the old house is a lacebark pine tree, which was designated as a Natural Monument. The lacebark pine tree, originally from northern China, is among the few of its kind in Korea. It is said that Chusa snuck the pine across the border from China (formerly, the Qing dynasty) into the country when he was 25 years old and planted it at the tomb of his great-grandfather. Originally, the tree had three branches, but two were broken and the third branch was damaged. In 1980, the damaged branch was treated and since then, the tree has been kept under strong protection.