Poongnamheon is a traditional Korean house that was once owned by a Korean noble family and is located next to a 600-year-old ginkgo tree in Jeonju Hanok Village. Recently remodeled to serve as a guesthouse, it's popular among tea lovers because the owner of the guesthouse serves tea made from the tea leaves he cultivated and harvested in Jirisan Mountain. In addition to tea drinking, the guesthouse also offers a number of tea experience programs to the guests.
This traditional Korean house was built in 1934, and one of its outstanding features is the wooden columns that are more than 80 years old. It was a residential house until it was remodeled to serve as a guesthouse in 2004. Although a typical traditional Korean house with the wooden columns supporting the eaves at the end of the gambrel roof, it doesn’t have a “daecheong (open living room with wooden floor," which is common in traditional Korean houses. Instead, it has a wider “toenmaru (narrow wooden porch running along the outside of a room)” just outside the windows. The owner of the guesthouse saw to it that most of the original wooden materials and structures are preserved as much as possible when it was remodeled, in order for it to have the "feel" of a traditional Korean house owned by a noble family. The highlight of the house is the roof tiles, which are from Goryeong and made by Lee Geumbok, Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 121.
It took more than two years to remodel the interior of the building to bring out all the features of a traditional Korean house such as the floor, which is lacquered and covered with traditional Korean paper. The dark brown color of the floor is a perfect match with the wooden columns and ceiling rafters. As an antique collector, the owner of the guesthouse decorated all the guestrooms with some of his collection such as furniture. The old Korean paintings and folding screen add to the atmosphere of a traditional Korean house that could only be owned by a noble family in the past.
Guests can try fresh wild green tea leaves. The guesthouse owner originally came from Hwagae Jangteo in Jirisan Mountain, where he has a 16-acre wild green tea farm. According to him, the tea served at Poongnamheon is made from some of the best-quality tea leaves from the farm. As a tea lover, he takes pride in serving all-natural green tea to the guests.
The guesthouse owner and his wife also offer a number of wild tea experience programs to those interested in tea, such as "Tea Manufacturing Class” where guests get to roast fresh tea leaves and “Tea Food Tasting Session.”
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