Built-in the late 19th century, Seven Terraces was a contiguous row of Anglo-Chinese terrace houses located just behind the Goddess of Mercy Temple. The row of houses today is a sterling splendid example of adaptive reuse of heritage buildings that were of low density and low impact. Historically, these houses were a redevelopment of the original Lee Kongsi building circa 1893, in a period when George Town's Kelly maps were just completed. The row was redeveloped by Koe Guan, the holding company of local millionaire and governor of southern Thailand, Khaw Sim Bee. This row was the first residential and commercial expansion by Koe Guan outside of the original settlement that bordered Pitt Street. Houses built by local property developers along Stewart Lane and Muntri Street at the end of the 19th century were the earliest examples of mass housing that were taller, more imposing and with significantly higher ceilings as compared to shophouses built in other parts of George Town earlier in that century.
