Lahao Stone Houses are located in Fenghuang County, Hunan Province. It is one of the Bona Villa projects by China Foundation For Poverty Alleviation, constructed with funds donated by Sinopec. The project includes courtyards consisting of six renovated residential buildings, as well as village landscape protection, infrastructure renovation, and public space renewal.
The transformation strategies of the project are to protect the original ecological landscape, respect the original site, restore the architectural texture, and minimize damage to the natural environment. In the planning, the space of the village is sorted out, and the public areas, roads, parking lots and other infrastructure are reorganized, making the structure of the homestay project clear. The homestay project has no walls and no boundaries, coexisting with the reserved houses. The village grows like nature, and the new and the old merge together naturally, bringing the rebirth to the traditional settlements.
In terms of construction methods, a combination of traditional craftsmanship and industrialization is used. The original stone walls of the building are renovated, and the stone masons are allowed to rebuild the walls in accordance with the traditional dry-laying method, which improves the lighting conditions of the building and also obtains a better view of the scenery. At the same time, there is a strong contrast between the new and the old, the lightness and the heaviness, and a dramatic effect is formed in the village.
Lahao Stone Houses are the starting point of Lahao Village's “Rural Tourism Poverty Alleviation +“project, and a series of public spaces and public landscapes will continue to appear in the future. We hope that the transformation strategies of Lahao Village will serve as a good example. They not only respect the old houses and the lifestyles of the villagers, but also awake the memories and emotions of the village and allow the continuation of the rural culture.
