Houses are made of precious wood

The common characteristic of all the houses is that they are made of rare and precious wood and designed with grandiose pillars and gables. They are of the kind of houses desperately wanted by the rich who will pay any price to buy them.

DVB, a retired officer of Thanh Thach commune, led reporters, who acted as buyers, to some houses in the locality. 

Pointing to a house, he said it was built three years ago. Since the pillars of the houses were big and solid, the seller set a high price of VND600 million.

The second house, belonging to B’s son, a 3-space house with 12-meter tall pillars, is even more expensive. B said the wood used to make the house was of ‘premium quality’, including ironwood, or ‘lim’ as called by locals, which has hardness and is free of woodeating pests. 

Reporters said that some locals found it difficult to find ironwood to build houses, partially because forest rangers are keeping tight control over local forests, and partially because large timber trees have been exploited.

A man said the house of B’s son might be built of wood illegally logged in the past and there are not documents to prove the legal origin of the wood.

However, B told reporters that if they want to buy the house, he will guarantee the ‘safe transportation of the house away from the commune’.

In other words, B made sure that buyers would not meet any legal troubles when carrying the house away from the commune. However, they will have to find a way to carry the houses to their homes smoothly. Forest rangers and the police may stop them on the way and seize the precious wood.

Thanh Thach and Thanh Hoa are the two biggest supply sources of wooden houses in the remote Tuyen Hoa district. In the past, local people exploited wood in large quantities, built houses for sale.

A source said the locals from the two communes sell more than 10 large wooden houses a year because of high demand.

According to B, a house owned by DVT, a local man, was sold two months ago, but the deal was stopped by agencies because no one could show documents to prove the legal origin of the wood. 

However, finally, everything went smoothly. Only insiders know what the buyer and seller did to carry the house away in front of local authorities.

RELATED NEWS

Wood industry feels the heat from Chinese buyers

Vietnam wooden furniture products now target high-end market

Thien Nhien