Taitung White House 臺東阿伯小白屋

Share

---

Tweet

The Taitung White House is a strange-looking house built by hand by a former KMT soldier. It's a popular location and you can usually spot an Instagrammer or two here taking photos of the oddly shaped house, which reminds people of Howl's Moving House.

Historical Background:
​The Taitung White House began construction in 1966 by Li Wenchang (李文昌), who was an ROC soldier born in 1928 in Guangxi and moved with the ROC army to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War. He built the house while he was still serving in the military. Originally the house was made of wood, then he added brick to the walls. After a local coast guard station was abandoned in 1970, he moved the materials from the coast guard station over to build his house into the four-story building we see today. 
Mr. Li had a son who later went on to become an Architect, and urged him to move to Kaohsiung in his old age, but Mr. Li refused this offer. 
In 2015 a nearby animal feed factory was torn down to make way for a hotel being built here, making the white house much more obvious to passersby. 
Mr. Li still lived at the house and was a bit of a recluse but still agreed to interviews from the media. He rejected offers from others to purchase the property. 
Mr. Li finally died in his home at the age of 89 in 2017. ​
For further background on the house, you can check out this blog by Josh Ellis. 
As of the time of this article, the White House is still standing and there are no plans to sell it or tear it down that I am aware of. It is still a popular attraction in Taitung. 

Hours:
24/7

Price:
Free:

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: Go south on Provincial Highway 11 until you reach Taitung City. The house is near the southeast corner of Taitung near the ocean on Zhengzheng Road. Looking for scooter rental in Taitung? You can search Klook here or KKday here to search for options. You can also check out our scooter rental guide here.
If you are looking for car rentals, you can also search KKday here or Klook here. You can check out our car rental guide here.
By bus: From Taitung TRA station, take a bus to central Taitung. The house is about a 20-minute walk from any bus stop. ​You can also try to coming south down from Hualien. You can book tickets to travel to Taitung via inter-city bus on Klook here. 
Book tickets via the normal train (TRA)  on Klook here.

Accommodation:
Booking accommodation in the Taitung can be difficult in the summer months and on weekends when rooms can be fully booked for months in advance. We suggest a better quality selection on Agoda.com. 
We have stayed at and recommend the Papago International Resort in Chishang (you can book on Agoda here, Booking.com here, Hotels.com here, or Expedia here), which is a five star hotel with private villas with pools for each room, and Mountain and Ocean B & B in Taimali (you can book on Agoda here, Booking.com here, Hotels.com here, or Expedia here), which is a quiet and affordable B&B right next to the beach. 
You can also book Wifi and SIM cards for Taiwan on Gigago here.  
Need travel insurance? Compare prices on Insubuy here. 
​
Tours:
There are many tours and activities such as snorkeling, diving, SUPing, Surfing, Speed Boating, Glamping, River tracing and more in Taitung. You can find more tours of Taitung on Klook here or KKday here. 

Just to let you know, if you book using the links above, we get some commission at no cost to you, and you can help support our blog. 
You can click here to receive $5 USD on your first Klook purchase. 

​Map:

Our Journey:

I have driven past the white house once. It is an oddity worth stopping next to if you are interested in weird houses. But you can't go inside, so you will probably only stay here for about five minutes. 

View from the outside. 

Side view of the four story house. 

View of the side door. 

Rebar coming out of the roof. 

Open spaces on the roof. 

There are many tours and activities such as snorkeling, diving, SUPing, Surfing, Speed Boating, Glamping, River tracing and more in Taitung. You can find more tours of Taitung on Klook here or KKday here. ​

Check out our full guide to Taitung here, our guide to Taiwan’s East Rift Valley here, and our guide to  Taiwan’s East Coast here.
​
​You can also check out our full travel guide to Taiwan here. ​

Share