Qualla: The House of Twelve Roofs

The House of Twelve Roofs: Introduction

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Balou46, CC BY-SA 3.0. Count the roofs and you get twelve, though nobody can say with certainty why. The Bubungan Dua Belas -- the House of Twelve Roofs -- sits atop Residency Hill, three kilometers south of Bandar Seri Begawan, where it has watched over the floating villages of Kampong Ayer since 1907. Built from imported Sandakan timber on raised pillars, with Kapur wood floors and hand-cut wooden shingles, the building is a hybrid that belongs fully to neither tradition: British colonial in its verandas and billiard rooms, Malay vernacular in its casement windows, ornate porch railings, and relationship to the tropical air. Twenty-five British Residents and High Commissioners called it home. Japanese officers commandeered it during the war. Queen Elizabeth II held court here. Through it all, the house endured -- not because anyone planned for it to last this long, but because each generation found it worth preserving.

Image: Balou46 | CC BY-SA 3.0

The House of Twelve Roofs: A Consul's Makeshift Home

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mx. Granger, CC0. The site's history predates the building by half a century. British Consul General Spenser St. John constructed a makeshift dwelling here in 1856 under Sultan Abdul Momin's rule, upgrading it to a permanent structure two years later. That building stood for nearly thirty years be...

Image: Mx. Granger | CC0

The House of Twelve Roofs: Billiard Tables and Brass Cannons

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Government of Brunei, Public domain. The residency's early decades reveal as much about colonial priorities as about architecture. In 1911, Sultan Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin gifted four brass cannons salvaged from old Malay forts for display on the grounds. Acting Resident Harvey Chevalier, who served four years ...

Image: Government of Brunei | Public domain

The House of Twelve Roofs: War and Return

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Government of Brunei, Public domain. When Japanese forces occupied Brunei in December 1941, they made the residency their headquarters. Allied aircraft strafed Brunei Town in 1944, and the roof took a few machine-gun rounds, but the building survived largely intact while much of the town around it burned. After Aust...

Image: Government of Brunei | Public domain

The House of Twelve Roofs: Royal Preparations

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Government of Brunei, Public domain. From the 1950s onward, the residency's renovations tracked the calendar of royal visits. For the Duke of Edinburgh's 1959 stay, a bedroom was paneled in stained wood to resemble a ship's cabin and fitted with air conditioning, soft board ceilings, and enlarged plumbing. Prince Ph...

Image: Government of Brunei | Public domain

The House of Twelve Roofs: From Residence to Relic

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Government of Brunei, Public domain. After Brunei gained independence in 1984, the residency's purpose shifted from diplomatic shelter to cultural landmark. In 1998, Queen Elizabeth II returned -- this time to inaugurate the building as an exhibition gallery housing five galleries celebrating Brunei's diplomatic his...

Image: Government of Brunei | Public domain