By Ida Indawati Khouw

By Ida Indawati Khouw

Of the numerous buildings and structures in downtown Kota, one
never fails to catch the eye with its distinctive bright red
color. The Toko Merah (Red Shop), an 18th century Dutch
residential building, is one of the most important pieces of the
city's heritage. This article, the 55th in a series on historic
and protected buildings and sites in Jakarta, takes a look at the
history of this eye-catching building.

JAKARTA (JP): The office of state-owned trading company PT
Dharma Niaga on Jl. Kali Besar Barat in downtown Kota, wedged in
among the white and gray building that crowd the area, is easy to
spot thanks to its striking red color.

The building is known as Toko Merah (Red Shop), although it
was originally designed and built as a house.

At a glance, the building, occupying 2,455 square meters of
land, does not look particularly large. However, once you enter
the structure you gain an appreciation for its grandeur.

The building still boasts spacious rooms and beautiful
ornaments, typical of the mansions of prominent figures in the
era of old Batavia.

The house was built in 1730 and its first occupant was
Governor-General Baron van Imhoff. He occupied the north wing and
the south wing was taken up by his widowed mother-in-law, Johanna
Catharina Pelgroom.

Originally, the building consisted of two living spaces, the
front, or north, of the house and the back of the house, with the
two areas separated by windows, says Thomas Ataladjar, the public
relations officer at PT Dharma Niaga.

The front living space appears to have had two stories, while
the back had three.

"I think the third story was added later, shown by the plain
carvings on the stairs leading to the (third) floor. Old stairs
usually had complicated carvings," says Thomas, who has done
research on the building over the last five years.

The area of Kali Besar, located near Kali Besar River, became
an upscale residential area in the 18th century after a number of
wealthy families built houses along the banks of the river.
Previously, it had been a residential area for the Chinese, but
their houses were burned down during a bloody riot in 1740.

Toko Merah is such an unusual and historically important
building it is made mention of in a number of old Dutch books as
well as in recent publications.

"There are five old and recent publications which discuss the
building," says Eka Kartika Sanur, a University of Indonesia
graduate who wrote her thesis on the building.

Thomas says the most important part of the building is the
front room, which currently is used as a meeting room. "In 1901
the room's floor, ceiling and all of its doors and windows were
moved to what is now the National Museum at the request of the
Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences.

"The items were removed to build a Compagnie's Kamer (Company
Room) because the society wanted to preserve the architectural
history of their ancestors," he said.

However, the owner of the building at the time, the Bouw
Maatschappij Toko Merah, demanded replicas be made of everything
removed from the room.

Some original items from Toko Merah can be found in the
National Museum on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat in Central Jakarta.

The ownership of the building itself has changed many times,
with most of the owners being prominent Dutch officials or
wealthy figures.

Besides Imhoff, three other governors-general resided in the
building: Jacob Mossel, Reinier de Klerk and Van der Parra.

From 1743 to 1755, the building also housed the Academie de
Marine (Marine Academy), which was founded by Imhoff.

In his book Historical Sites of Jakarta, Adolf Heuken writes
that the marine academy was the first in Asia and one of the
first in the world.

House of widows

The building also was owned by a number of wealthy widows over
its history.

Thomas says at least three widows owned the estate at some
point. He said one of these women was governor-general Mossel's
daughter, Phillipine Theodore Mossel, whose first husband died.
She eventually remarried Nicolaas Hartingh, who was the governor
of northern Java.

Another was Sophia Francina Westpalm, the widow of Hugo
Verijjsel and De Klerk.

The building also once belonged to Johanna Cornelia Wischmans,
the widow of Christian Lodewijk Senff.

The name Toko Merah only appeared in 1851, when the property
was owned by Chinese merchant Oey Liauw Kong, says Thomas. The
name came about because Liauw Kong used the building as his
residence and also as a shop.

But according to Heuken, the red bricks of the building were
added only after 1923, when the building was restored by Bank
voor Indie. Before then the building was white, the same as the
other buildings in the area.

The building then became known as Toko Merah, although it was
no longer used as shop, he says.

The property was purchased in 1934 by Dutch company N.V.
Jacobson van den Berg, the forerunner of PT Dharma Niaga.

Toko Merah is the last large residential building from the
Batavia era that still exists in Kota, Heuken said.