Arlene House - Kapitan Chung Thye Phin Building - Travelswithsun

Arlene House (formerly Chung Thye Phin Building) is a heritage museum along Jalan Dato Maharaja Lela in Ipoh Old Town.

For admission fees, visitors can enter the restored building and check out the gallery which takes up multiple floors.

This is our experience taking a tour at Arlene House!

Ground Floor

The museum entrance faces a junction. And immediately after entering the lovely front doors, we found ourselves in a narrow space. The gift shop filled with costumes and accessories takes up half of the ground floor.

Old Signage Before The Current Museum
Old Signage Before The Current Museum

We got our tickets (RM20 per person with proof of Malaysian citizenship) from the counter beside the gift shop.

Toy Display Case On The Ground Floor Of Arlene House
Toy Display Case On The Ground Floor Of Arlene House
Old Games Displayed At Arlene House
Old Games Displayed At Arlene House

One of their friendly staff showed us around the whole building beginning with the back of the ground floor. There are a lot of antique toys displayed here. But the main highlight is an impressive iron staircase from Scotland!

MacFarlane Cast Iron Staircase At Arlene House
MacFarlane Cast Iron Staircase

First Level

It didn’t take long to cover all there was to see on the ground level. After taking some photos, the staff led us upstairs to the next level. There was a dedicated rack for visitors to leave their shoes while exploring upstairs.

Wooden Staircase At Arlene House
Wooden Staircase
History Hall At Arlene House
History Hall

She brought us to a hall (marked History Hall on the map) and told us that there was a video we could watch. The video is quite long – we only watched about 75% of it before we lost interest.

It tells of how Chung Thye Phin and his family came to be in Ipoh. As well as how tin mining was set up in Perak. It also talks about Ngah Ibrahim and his father, Long Jaafar.

Having visited Kota Ngah Ibrahim before, it was interesting to learn of the roles played by the two different families.

There are two other rooms to explore on the first level, but the staff brought us up to the second level first. We would come back to these rooms later after exploring the second level.

At the end of the tour, the staff did bring us back to the first level to check out a hall filled with antiques from former neighboring businesses of the museum (back when it operated as a pharmacy). We found this room interesting as it had some objects we had never seen before.

Looking At Old Photographs At Arlene House
Looking At Old Photographs

Next to this hall, was a hall made to look like a proper Kapitan office. There is some stunning antique furniture in this room including the massive main desk.

Kapitan Office Setup At Arlene House
Kapitan Office Setup
Antiques And Old Photographs At Arlene House
Antiques And Old Photographs

Second Level

The highest level of the gallery is where they keep even more antiques. There are bridal costumes, paraphernalia and a bridal bed in the Straits Chamber. We personally think that this set up was not as impressive as the one over at 22 Hale Street Gallery.

Bridal Chamber Setup At Arlene House
Bridal Chamber Setup
Chinese Opera Wall Decor At Arlene House
Chinese Opera Wall Decor

Next, we were led to another hall decorated with posters and photographs of famous singers and entertainers. These included P.Ramlee and Saloma who we did not know were married.

Music And Entertainment Hall At Arlene House
Music And Entertainment Hall

If you want to, there are QR codes that you can scan to listen to hit songs for some of the singers.

Our Thoughts On This Place

We spent about an hour at the museum – much of it went to watching their informative video on the first level.

Oldfield's Signage Displayed At Arlene House
Oldfield’s Signage Displayed At Arlene House

The building itself is very beautifully restored (and fully air conditioned). We especially found ourselves admiring the central wooden staircase, windows and flooring. The museum feels spacious despite the narrow lot size.

One thing you should know about this place is that there is no lift, and it is very easy to trip over the floor which is not always level.

Peranakan Style Teapot Sets Displayed At Arlene House
Peranakan Style Teapot Sets Displayed At Arlene House

If there’s anything we would nitpick about, it’s that the staff can’t answer all our questions (she clearly had a fixed agenda and was only briefed about certain items in the gallery). She was however, friendly and very polite and patient with our slow pace.

We do find that the admission fees are considerably high for Ipoh standards.

Window View Of The J.W.W. Birch Memorial Clock Tower From Arlene House
Window View Of The J.W.W. Birch Memorial Clock Tower From Arlene House

Conclusion

Overall, Arlene House is not a bad place to spend a free hour while you’re in Ipoh. That is, if you don’t mind the slightly pricey entrance fees.

Having seen the rest, we don’t think it’s the best museum around town. That honor still goes to Han Chin Pet Soo Museum. It’s well worth the effort to pre-book tours at this museum.

But one unique thing that you can do at Arlene House that you can’t do at the rest is to rent costumes (hanfu or kebaya) to take photographs with. You can also buy some traditional wear at their gift shop.

Gift Shop At The Front Of Arlene House
Gift Shop

Ho Yan Hor Museum

We find that Arlene House is much like the Ho Yan Hor Museum in a way that it dives deeper into one family’s history. Although the latter doesn’t charge any entry fees and has plenty more personal artifacts and personal photographs of the subject family.

22 Hale Street Gallery

If it’s antiques that you’re particularly interested in, 22 Hale Street Gallery has a lot more to see than Arlene House. And if you’re looking for locally made souvenirs, we think that the gift shop at 22 Hale Street Gallery is better.

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