Rumah Batu
A house of concrete and brick in the heart of Kuching, raised when nearly every other home was timber. Its very name, "the Stone House", says how unusual it was.
Architecture and character
Two storeys, colonnaded, with long verandahs wrapping the upper floor and steep roofs shading generous rooms. By family account it was the first and largest Sarawak Malay noble house built of concrete and brick in its day — and, as the story is told, the second-largest building in Kuching after the Astana. These comparative claims are family and oral history, stated as such while independent verification continues.
Inside, the original patterned floor tiles, the green iron verandah balustrades, and the arrangement of rooms still hold the memory of several generations.
Family account
A family home, a community centre
Rumah Batu was never only the DBAK family residence. It served as a community centre: a place of learning, health, welfare, religious and social life for the community around it.
Family account
The site and its status
The house stands on 6,313 square metres (1.56 acres) at Lot 8, Section 13, Kuching Town Land District — formerly Datu’s Road, now Jalan Datuk Ajibah Abol. An 859-year title was issued in 1937. The site includes the DBAK Wakaf Burial Ground beside Masjid Bahagian Kuching, reserved for family and heirs; as of March 2021 it held 282 or more graves. We honour the sanctity of this ground and publish no personal burial data.
As court-confirmed family wakaf property, Rumah Batu cannot be sold or disposed of. Development may proceed only in keeping with wakaf principles and the interests of the heirs.
Family document
Then and now
Then — early 20th century
Now — 2020
The recorded condition
The 2020–2022 documentation visits recorded the house honestly: the main structure stands sound, but furniture and internal structures are destroyed or lost, timber floors are worn, and the whole calls for careful conservation. These records are the foundation of the restoration plan.
