Tales from Normandie Apartment

The building was considered to be one of its kind when it was first constructed, offering residents amenities that many other properties didn't. [Photos by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

Adam Sinykin from the United States said the building surprised him when he first laid eyes on it as it looked very much like the famous flatiron building in New York.

"We feel lucky to be living in such a place. Foreigners, especially those with children, think it is romantic to be living in an old building," said Sinykin, who moved into the property with his wife and daughter in 2007.

The International Savings Society, a French financial institution, had purchased a triangular plot of land around the 1920s at the intersection of Central Huaihai Road and Wukang Road before building a French Renaissance style building and naming it after Normandy, a northwest region in France. It was one of the city's earliest modern residential buildings and most of the residents were upper class expatriates.

"It was built as an apartment for single white-collar people. Some prominent figures from the political, cultural and art sectors later moved in too," said Lu Yun, a spokeswoman with the Hunan sub-district that the building is located in.

Lin Jianghong, who moved into Wukang Building in 1954, said the property was considered to be in a league of its own during those times.

"A layer of felt was attached to the steel window frames so that noise was minimized when people shut their windows. All the rooms and corridors had central heating and some of the kitchens even had ironing boards installed in them. The building managed to showcase the exquisiteness of Shanghai," said Lin, who used to work at the Shanghai Municipal Housing Security and Building Administration Bureau.

"Although the building was designed nearly a century ago, it catered to modern living needs, such as having rooms for a nanny and storage spaces," added Zhou Bingkui, another resident.

Among those interviewed for the project, Xu Baoying is the person who has lived in the building for the longest time, having moved into Wukang Building in 1959.

"From our room we can see Soong Ching-ling's house across the street. In the 1960s when the city faced a food shortage, we would see Soong's chubby nanny strolling in the garden and feeding a couple of chickens," said the 81-year-old, who used to be a head nurse at a well-known hospital.