Feels like home

It is easy to mistake Mansion 1969, perched on the side of the South Klang Valley Expressway’s Telok Panglima Garang exit in Jenjarom, for one of the old village’s rural houses complete with zinc roofs and aged plank wood walls.

However, as soon as you walk into the “mansion” — yes, literally — you are greeted by a spacious and modern cafe with a vintage feel.

That’s not all. As you make your way in, you will notice that there is an orchard, with durian and rambutan trees at the back of the house. Customers can still admire the greenery from indoors, as there is an all-glass back wall that looks out to the orchard.

Co-founded by Pierre Teh, Dr Ser Wue Hiong and Teh Deng Qi, Mansion 1969 was originally Ser’s ancestral home built in 1969 that had been abandoned for years. Initially, the trio were hoping to find a suitable location to run the cafe at Jenjarom New Village but to no avail.

Pierre saw potential in the old mansion and decided to run the cafe-cum-gallery there. Previously a Kuala Lumpur-based image consultant, Pierre enjoys life in Jenjarom. “I truly enjoy living far from the city. It’s so comfortable here, much less traffic and it is so spacious.”

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The trio combined arts, culture and culinary art to create a unique experience. Mansion 1969 boasts a full-range menu that includes vegetarian dishes, thanks to Deng Qi. Meanwhile, its walls are home to pages of the trilogy “Moving Mountains: A Pictorial History of the Chinese in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur”.

“The original plan was just to set up an art and collectibles gallery but it’s not going to draw people here. We have to give them a reason to revisit this place, and what better reason is there than food? Everyone needs and loves to eat. So, we have good food, art and history all in this place.

“We hope that visitors from the city could learn about their culture when they come here. Many visitors are surprised when they’re here, because it reminds them of their grandparents’ homes or their childhood spent in their respective kampungs. One of my customers is going to have her wedding here because she said it feels like being home,” says Pierre.

Mansion 1969 has been operating since 2016. According to him, proprietors of the neighbouring businesses were sceptical when they found out that the house will be turned into a cafe, as no one has ever done such a thing in the area before. But now, they are frequent customers of Mansion 1969.

Pierre’s personal touch abounds in the premises. It is littered with his own collection of retro items such as old typewriters, vintage cameras, old toy cars and mini sculptures crafted personally by him. “I like to upcycle things — it’s very important to me. People think things are not useful anymore and want to throw them away, but to me, we should try to find other value in it,” he says as he sat on the bench he made with old Poslaju boxes.

As someone who firmly believes that heritage should not be learnt only through books, Pierre allows visitors to touch the displays. “The only way to satisfy people’s curiosity is to let them play with these things and at the same time, they get to learn about the history of these items as well,” he says.

While he personally is a vegetarian, he believes it is only fair to his customers that he also offers non-vegetarian dishes. We tried the vegetarian lotus leaf rice and dry curry chicken noodles. Be prepared to share your food if you’re a small eater because the portions are surprisingly large.

We favoured the lotus leaf rice especially, which was extremely fragrant and flavourful, despite being a vegetarian dish.

If you don’t mind driving for a bit (around 30 - 40 minutes from Kuala Lumpur), spend a lovely afternoon at Mansion 1969 with your friends and family while you take a walk down memory lane.

Mansion 1969:

• Lot 389, Batu 13, Jalan Klang Banting, Kampung Sungai Rambai, Jenjarom, Selangor
• Opening hours: 12pm to 10pm, closed on Tuesdays
• Contact: (03) 3191 5969
• Pork-free

This story first appeared in EdgeProp.my live! magazine. Download a FREE copy of live! magazine here.