Located at 475 HuaiHai Middle Road, these apartments were designed by Paul Veysseyre who was a leading French architect living in Shanghai from 1921 to 1937, one of the founders of the architectural firm Leonard, Veysseyre & Kruze (LVK). Over a hundred of his buildings are still standing in Shanghai, contributing to the city’s extremely diverse architectural heritage.
The Bearn Apartments were constructed in 1931 and LVK moved their offices to the 8th floor.
In 1932 it had 130 Chinese tenants and 330 foreigners, making it one of the few buildings in the French Concession where Westerners outnumbered the locals.
After the liberation of Shanghai in 1949, the municipal government set up the Shanghai Women’s Supplies Store, the first speciality shop for women in China.
Notable Residents
Agnes Smedley
The location of the cache is close to where the old photograph of the building was taken.