Rumah Tele and Peleh Gables: Terengganu’s Traditional Malay Houses

Steep tiled roofs, curving gable boards, carved timber walls and not a single nail: how to read Terengganu’s traditional Malay houses, and where to see the finest survivors.

Drive through the villages of Terengganu, on the north-east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, and you will still see them: timber houses raised on posts, with tall, steep roofs ending in gracefully curved boards. Terengganu’s traditional houses are among the most distinctive in the Malay world. They were built from cengal, a dense tropical hardwood, and assembled from panels that slot together, so that a whole house could be taken apart and rebuilt somewhere else. A few of the grandest have been rescued, restored and opened to visitors.

How to Read a Terengganu House

• Raised on posts. Houses stand on timber posts above the ground, which keeps them cool, dry in the rainy season and safe from floods and animals. The number of posts is often used to describe a house’s size.
• The peleh. The most recognisable feature is the peleh or pemeleh: a pair of wide boards covering the ends of the roof, curving outwards at the bottom. A study published in a Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia journal describes these large inverted-V boards, made of cengal, as typical of every traditional Terengganu house.
• Singgora tiles. Roofs are covered in small, flat terracotta tiles called singgora, laid in overlapping rows that look like fish scales.
• Panel walls. Walls are made of timber panels slotted into grooved frames and fixed with wooden pegs (pasak) and joints (tanggam) rather than nails.
• Carving. Panels, doors and ventilation grilles are decorated with pierced (tebuk) and relief (timbul) carving, mostly of plants, geometric patterns and calligraphy. A UiTM study notes that the open carving also lets light and air into the house.

The Main House Types

Terengganu builders used a handful of house forms, often named after the shape of the roof. The best known is the rumah bujang berpeleh, a single long house with a steep gabled roof and peleh boards at each end. A rumah bujang berserambi adds a verandah or reception wing (serambi), and wealthy owners joined two or three units together, each with its own peleh. Later came the rumah limas, with a hipped roof that slopes on all four sides, including the “Dutch” style known as limas Belanda.

The best-known single example is the Rumah Tele, also called Istana Tengku Nik. According to the Hasanah Report 2024 by Yayasan Hasanah, it was built in 1888, first stood at the Maziah Palace in Kuala Terengganu, was moved to Padang Negara at Kuala Ibai, and in 1987 was moved again to the grounds of the Terengganu State Museum.

Rumah Warisan Haji Su

In Kampung Losong, about two kilometres from central Kuala Terengganu, Rumah Warisan Haji Su (Haji Su Heritage House) preserves two houses side by side. The Terengganu State Museum says the complex combines a rumah bujang berpeleh and a rumah limas Belanda. The conservation architects Arkitek Punca Cipta date the older house, a rumah bujang berpeleh kembar tiga with three peleh gables, to the 1890s, and the second to 1941. The older house is built mostly of cengal using tanggam and pasak joints; the newer one breaks with tradition, using a Dutch hip roof and brighter European colours inside.

The houses belonged to Haji Su, a local figure whose family traded by sea. The state museum board took over the property in 2010 for RM3.2 million, including the land, restored it from 2014, and opened it to visitors on 1 June 2016, according to the museum.

Kampung Budaya at the State Museum

The easiest place to see several house types together is the Terengganu State Museum at Bukit Losong. The museum says that during its second building phase, which began in 1986, four traditional houses were relocated to its grounds, including Istana Tengku Long, Rumah Tele and a rumah bujang berpeleh. The state’s Kampung Budaya Terengganu (Terengganu Cultural Village), a “live museum” on the grounds, now presents houses including a fisherman’s house, Rumah Limas Belanda, Rumah Tele and Istana Tengku Long, with craft demonstrations such as batik, weaving and woodcarving, according to the state’s PITAS2030 tourism site.

The museum’s main building is itself a tribute to these houses: the state museum says its design was based on the Rumah Tele, with peleh boards and carved wall panels, raised as if on posts.

Visiting

• Terengganu State Museum: open Saturday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm, and closed on Fridays, according to its own FAQ. Non-citizen adults pay RM15 (about US$3.70).
• Rumah Warisan Haji Su: managed by the state museum board; check opening times with the museum before you go.
• Respect: remove your shoes before climbing the stairs into a traditional house, and do not lean on carved panels.

Combine the houses with the museum itself; our guide to the Terengganu State Museum explains what is inside.

Have you stayed in or visited a traditional Malay house? Tell us in the comments below.

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