The Baek In-je House in Gahoe-dong is a large modern hanok with spacious inner and reception quarters, a garden, and a detached pavilion. Han Sang-ryong, an executive of Hanseong Bank, built it in 1913. Ownership later passed through the bank and publisher Choe Seon-ik before physician Baek In-je acquired it in 1944. Its present name cannot tell the house's whole story.
Modern ways of living entered a traditional frame
A corridor links the reception and inner quarters, while glass windows and newer materials appear throughout. The extensive garden and elevated pavilion show the scale of elite life at the time. This is not a Joseon house preserved without change, but a traditional spatial system transformed by modern tastes and technology.
Ask how the first owner built his wealth
Han Sang-ryong pursued banking and business through close relationships with colonial power. Admiring the building alone erases the economic and political conditions that made it possible. Later ownership by Choe, associated with nationalist journalism, and Baek, founder of the institution that became Paik Hospital, added very different historical layers.
Not every object in the museum belonged to its residents
Seoul acquired the house in 2009, repaired it, and opened it as a historic-house museum in 2015. Some furniture and objects were reproduced or arranged to evoke elite life during the period. Distinguish exhibition staging from documented belongings, and check the latest reservation policy for guided interior visits.