Alhambra resident donates her house to the Huntington Library

Mei-Chu Hsu Sun, an 82-year-old Taiwanese immigrant, donated her Alhambra house to the Huntington Library to commemorate her husband Yi-Hsiang Sun, World Journal (世界日報) reports. The $345,000 from selling the house will be used to remodel the library's Chinese Garden.

Yi-Hsiang Sun, who had been living with Mei-Chu Hsu Sun in the United States for 25 years, passed away after a heart attack last year. Mei-Chu was sadden by the loss of her beloved husband, and visited the Huntington Library gardens to relieve her sorrow — the lotus lake in the Chinese Garden reminded Mei-Chu a famous lake in her hometown Hangzhou. Mei-Chu decided to donate her Alhambra home, which contained many good memories with her husband, to the library. She hoped the funds obtained from selling the house would benefit members of the community, which was also her husband’s wish.

After her husband's death, Mei-Chu's nephew who lives in Minnesota came to assist her since she did have children. Even though other members of the family did not support her decision to donate the house, Mei-Chu insisted that leaving her husband's name in the beautiful Chinese Garden was the best way to commemorate him. She has subsequently moved back to Taiwan.

Mei-Chu and YI-Hsiang moved from mainland China to Taiwan in 1948, where they fell in love with each other while attending the same university. After graduation, they taught education and Chinese in the same college. The coupled moved to the United States in 1985, and purchased their house in Alhambra in 1997.