SUEN KING ENG & SUE FONG ENG HOMESTEAD

The Wing Luke Museum is excited to announce the acquisition of property located at 611 8th Ave S. in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (C-ID) neighborhood.

The investment is associated with the Museum’s long-term Homestead Home capital project, which will expand the Museum’s footprint in the neighborhood one block south of its current site for historic preservation and increase opportunities to continue work in immersive educational initiatives.

This historic property, owned by the Suen King Eng family for 80+ years, is one of the neighborhood’s last remaining and most intact single-family homes, representing a pioneering Chinese American family’s modest house with a basement bean sprout business. It was constructed after the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and amidst housing discrimination in Seattle, disallowing residence for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in many neighborhoods, including the commercially designated C-ID.

Despite these barriers, the Eng Family persevered and, in 1937, found a way to build their home. With the high risk for displacement and extreme development pressure across the C-ID neighborhood as identified by the City of Seattle’s 2035 Comprehensive Plan, this community-led acquisition is a rare instance of a long-term property owner partnering with a community organization of color rather than a for-profit outside developer. It reaffirms the community’s need to claim place.

Located just a block from the Museum, this expansion of our “campus” approach allows the Museum to connect and activate neighborhood cultural sites, build neighborhood cultural integrity, elevate the AAPI experience within humanities themes related to immigrants, business life, and housing exclusion, increase our education space to present AAPI stories more fully, and further advance racial and social equity by ensuring that a heritage property remains community-owned.

As part of the Museum’s mission, this space will promote neighborhood empowerment and economic vitalization by preserving this property as an immersive educational exhibit, a stop on our public walking tours, and a cultural heritage and educational space. The property is adjacent to Canton Alley and can enhance the public experience and extend our cultural programming along this historic alleyway.

Born in the context of exclusion, the project advances the Museum's efforts towards healing and well-being.

In celebration of this historical acquisition, the Museum hosted a private blessing ceremony with special guests, including members of the Suen King Eng family, at the site on April 22nd, 2023.