Victorian style
"I've always had a taste for all things elegant. I like Mozart, Rubinstein, a pot of good tea, a full-bodied cup of coffee, a good book, or maybe a collection of poetry. . . ." A great admirer of Yang Kui (a writer and poet who lived in the Tunghai University area), the culturally inclined Huang was lucky to make a fortune while still young so that he could strike out and found a chain of teahouses to his own liking. When he has time, he travels around Europe to see how people maintain the European style. He asks for little more from life.
After leaving Tai Ting in 1990, Huang opened a small teahouse in the artists' village that grew up as a result of Tai Ting's "Ideal Country" project. With a mere 80 or 85 square meters of floor space, design and decorating were handled entirely by Huang and his wife, who put in a wooden floor and displayed English bone china. One might generously call the location "slightly off the beaten track," but frankly speaking, it was pretty much out in the sticks. The shop required customers to take off their shoes, forbade boisterous behavior, refused to serve anyone under 12 years old, and limited the size of a single party to no more than six persons. All the prohibitions were a reflection of the uncompromising character of the shop's owner. Apart from Huang and his wife, absolutely no one expected the shop stay in business for long.
From the day it opened on August 20, 1990, Rose House was like Huang's own private garden. One day he sold nothing but one NT$45 cup of coffee, and even that lone customer complained, "How come your coffee tastes so bad?" But Huang's house rules remained in force. He wanted to create an elegant atmosphere where a person could relax and forget about the outside world for a while, have in-depth chats with their really good friends, and steal a few moments of peace.
Most of the customers at the original shop at the foot of Mount Tatu were students from Tunghai University. People noticed the quiet, tasteful atmosphere at Rose House, and the word spread quickly. Lots of people wanted to see this different sort of teahouse and get to know its strange proprietor. By December, Rose House was a Taichung phenomenon. People began driving in from out of town on weekends to enjoy a cup of first-class cappuccino or some authentic English tea.
The name "Rose House" has practically become a synonym in Taiwan for authentic English tea. This goes far beyond Huang's original expectations, for he was motivated solely by a love for the aesthetic sensibility of Victorian England, with the delicate beauty of its art, architecture, furniture, and decorative style. That is precisely what is lacking in Taiwan, where people have spent the last several decades pouring most of their energies into economic development. Combining a mild outward appearance with a man-of-action personality lurking just beneath the surface, Robert Huang is actually rather similar to the seemingly stoic but untamably adventurous Victorian Englishmen that he admires. It probably isn't fair to attribute the success of Rose House, with its emphasis on Victorian style, to simple chance. Destiny would seem the more likely explanation.
For Huang, the spirit of the Victorian era is perfectly captured by the rose, with its unrivaled beauty-the thorn hiding behind the brilliant warmth, the mysterious air, self-confidence, and romance. . . . One cannot help but love the rose, and afternoon tea, which reached the height of its prominence during the Victorian era, symbolizes the luxury and abundance of life back then.
Rose House's unwavering commitment to both of these themes is what has enabled the shop to distinguish itself from the many other coffee shops and teahouses in Taiwan. Rose House has proved especially popular with young women.
on rose-related themes. It's like a mini-museum.