Overview
DILKUSHA means 'joyful heart' in Persian and is the name of the house where Albert W. Taylor and Mary L. Taylor lived. The Taylors began construction in 1923, completed Dirkusha in 1924, and after a fire in 1926, it was rebuilt in 1930. After the Japanese expelled the Taylors in 1942, Dilkusha was temporarily managed by his brother William W. Taylor. In 1959, Liberal Party lawmaker Cho Kyung-kyu purchased Dilkusha, but in 1963, his assets were transferred to the state, making Dilkusha state property. After that, it was left abandoned for a long time and lost its true form, and in 2005, Professor Kim Ik-sang of Seoil University was commissioned by Bruce T. Taylor, Albert's son, to locate Dilkusha. In 2006, Bruce finally visited Dirkusha, where he had lived as a child, for the first time in 66 years, and thus became known to the world once again. In 2016, the Seoul Metropolitan Government signed a business agreement with related agencies to restore the original form of Dilkusha. In August 2017, it was designated as a national cultural heritage site, 'Seoul Albert Taylor House (Dilkusha)'. Since 2017, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has conducted academic and design studies to restore Dilkusha and create it as an exhibition hall, and after smooth consultations with residents of Dilkusha, the relocation was completed in July 2018. Restoration work began in November 2018 to restore the original shape of the building, and the restoration was completed in December 2020. The restored living room inside Dilkusha was recreated as it was when the Taylors lived, and the remaining space except the living room was created as an exhibition hall themed around the Taylors' life in Korea and Albert W. Taylor's journalistic activities, which opened on March 1, 2021.
