The Nai Nam Communal House is located in Nam Son Block, Hoa Cuong Ward, Hai Chau District. It was built in the year of At Ty (1905) to worship the village tutelary god of security and justice, the local gods of the earth and the village ancestors.
Nai Nam Communal House reflects much of the Nguyen Dynasty culture with a panties roof, brick walls, two dragons flanking a moon, a well-matched couple of the Phoenix and Rheinart’s pheasant and bats carrying peaches in their mouths, all of which were formed with shards of pottery catching the eyes of visitors. The interior is divided into three sections with two lean-tos. The front one is 11.7m long and 7.9m wide, and the rear one 3.9m wide and 4.1m long.
There are 24 jack tree wood pillars in four rows, each pillar being from 2.5 to 4.1m high. The structure of the rafters is “Chong ruong – Gia thu” (Pillars with supporting base – Beams supported by pillars leaning against the wall). The gable is skillfully and ingeniously carved by talented craftsmen from Kim Bong (Hoian) with the motifs a carp changing to a dragon and the eight gods with ornamental floral designs. In the old days there used to be annual ceremonies to pray for blessings and security at the full moon of the second lunar month and on Lunar New Year’s Eve. During the resistance wars against the French and the Americans the village communal house was used as an underground base which witnessed the admission of new members to the Communist Party, the preparation of the political army forces for attacks on the city in 1950, 1951, 1960 and 1975, as well as the sacrifice of numerous able members for the revolutionary cause.
Nai Nam Communal House, with its value of fine art and architecture is well-known as an extant, typical village communal house. Nai Nam Communal House was recognized as a national relic by Ministry of Culture and Information on 4th January 1999.