In 1935, a wealthy merchant named Lu Jiayao commissioned a grand residence in Tao Village, Yilong Town. Located at coordinates 23°43′26.65″N and 102°29′21.05″E, this south-oriented compound basks in the southern sun, covering 1,500 square meters of land with 2,500 square meters of floor space. The structure stands on a solid timber-and-stone framework, built to endure the passage of decades.

Visitors entering the compound encounter three interconnected courtyards. The East Yard features a two-story, three-entrance layout. In the Middle and West Yards, the zouma zhuanjiao lou style dominates, where continuous wooden corridors wrap around the inner courtyards. Walking these corridors, one can feel the smooth, aged wood underfoot and smell the faint scent of old pine. Overhead, elegant traditional paintings and calligraphy decorate the walls and beams, showing the precise brushstrokes of long-dead artists.

The residence has absorbed the shifting politics of twentieth-century China. During the 1950s, the local People's Commune occupied these rooms, filling the courtyards with the noise of collective labor. Later, the compound became the administrative headquarters for the Tao Village Township Government, where clerks walked the wooden balconies to conduct daily business. When local administrations merged, the officials relocated, leaving the rooms silent.

On January 7, 2012, the Yunnan Provincial People's Government recognized the historical value of the compound, designating it a Provincial-level Cultural Relics Protection Unit. Decades of vacancy left their mark through localized structural decay, prompting a comprehensive restoration project in December 2017. Today, the cool stone bases and silent timber frames wait for a new chapter, as local planners prepare to introduce boutique guesthouses to these historic spaces.