Strolling through time at Chiang Mai's Lanna Traditional House Museum

Nestled on the quiet campus of Chiang Mai University, the Lanna Traditional House Museum feels like a magical gateway to time travel.

Far from the town’s tourist-packed night bazaars and trendy cafés, this open-air museum offers something quieter and more meaningful: a deep dive into the domestic architecture and cultural rhythms of northern Thailand’s Lanna heritage.

Spread across a leafy park at the university’s Center for the Promotion of Arts and Culture, the museum is home to 10 traditional Lanna houses and four rice granaries, each painstakingly dismantled from their original locations and rebuilt here, piece by piece.

This is not just a display of old buildings – this is a living record of the craftsmanship, lifestyle, and wisdom of local Lanna folks.

The Lanna love shack

These houses represent various social classes and periods from across the north, from a modest bamboo shack for a newlywed couple to timber homes belonging to Chiang Mai’s old merchant elite.

They sit raised on stilts, in classic Lanna style, with sloping roofs designed to drain tropical rains and open verandas that bridge indoor and outdoor living.

One of the first you'll encounter is the Ruean Krueng Phook, or tied-bamboo house. It’s small and simple, built entirely of split bamboo tied together with strips of rattan.

A tied-bamboo house, made of split bamboo, offered simplicity and charm for newlyweds in old Chiang Mai.//Photo: Chiang Mai University

Historically, these were the first homes of newlywed couples – quick to build, affordable, and meant to last just long enough to start a family and gather the resources for a sturdier upgrade.

The structure shows off remarkable ingenuity, balancing lightness and strength in a style uniquely adapted to local materials. This humble love shack offers romance and intimacy for a young couple.

From Noble Houses to Colonial Echoes

Contrast that with the stately Phaya Ponglanka House, originally built in 1896 and once the home of a prominent Chiang Mai family.

Crafted from hardwood and topped with classic din-khor clay tiles, this is a textbook example of Lanna design at its most refined.

A detached kitchen, perfect for open-air cooking and enjoying the gentle flow of cool breezes.//Photo: Chiang Mai University

The house is made up of several wings: a sleeping quarter, a veranda for living, relaxing and receiving guests, and a detached kitchen with a small terrace.

A breezy and spacious veranda designed for daily living, relaxing afternoons, and welcoming guests.//Photo: Chiang Mai University

Raised on thick pillars, it combines practicality with elegance – a hallmark of traditional Lanna architecture.

As you wander further into the museum grounds, you’ll see how styles began to evolve.

The hipped-roof house reflects the influence of Western architecture that arrived with missionaries, timber traders, and government officials in the early 20th century.

The house features neatly sawn timber beams, wide wraparound verandas, and even upper-floor balconies – a blend of Lanna beauty and colonial charm.

These homes were often more spacious, designed to accommodate furniture and social functions in ways earlier houses did not.

Perhaps the most intriguing of all is the Anusarnsunthorn House, built in 1924 for a Chiang Mai doctor and businessman.

Anusarnsunthorn House, a blend of clinic, residence, and shop, stands as a remarkable Lanna heritage building.//Photo: Chiang Mai University

Originally located at the bustling Chang Klan Road near what is now the Anusarn Market, this house was a hybrid – part clinic, part family residence, part shopfront.

The upper floor holds a large open hall and balcony that would have overlooked the market, while the ground floor functioned as a clinic, receiving patients by day.

Its architecture breaks with some Lanna conventions. For instance, doorways are directly opposite each other, defying local beliefs about bad luck. There’s no tern (open veranda), either.

Instead, what you see is a modernizing Chiang Mai in full swing – still grounded in tradition but slowly embracing new ways of living and building.

The house was donated to the museum by the family’s descendants and reconstructed on site in 2004 with support from the Jumphot-Panthip Foundation.

Unlike many historical exhibits, the Lanna Traditional House Museum doesn’t feel frozen in time. Local artisans regularly visit to demonstrate traditional crafts like wood carving, weaving, and bamboo construction.

The museum also hosts workshops, school visits, and seasonal cultural events.

There’s a peaceful rhythm to the place. You might find yourself walking barefoot on polished teak floors, listening to the wind in the trees, or simply sitting on a shaded veranda, imagining life a hundred years ago.

It’s a quiet yet vivid reminder that culture isn’t just in grand temples or city museums—it’s also in the grain of a wooden stair, the curve of a clay tile, or the cool hush of a bamboo wall.

If you go

Where: Center for the Promotion of Arts and Culture, Chiang Mai University

Opening Hours: Monday–Friday, 8.30 am–4.30 pm (Closed weekends and public holidays)

Admission: Free (donations welcome)

Insider Tip: Join a guided tour if available – the stories behind each house add an extra layer of meaning