[1] Indies people associated themselves with high status and expressed themselves by building opulent country houses usually associated with European aristocrats.

[6] Also changing was the addition of corrugated steel shades supported by cast iron consoles to protect the windows and the front porch from rainwater and sun.

In the 19th century, the Indies Empire style is considered a representative of the "uptown" of Batavia, the area south of the "downtown" Kota Tua.

Indies Empire style in Indonesia was not the work of a professional architect, but the design of a building supervisor (opzichter).

These front and rear porticos are very spacious compared with its original European-style to improve cross ventilation into the interior as well as protecting it from intense tropical heat and rain – a European attempt to imitate the local pringgitan, a Javanese veranda with a bamboo bench where people may sleep during a hot noon.

The whole compound is situated on a large piece of land with spacious gardens at the front, rear, and sides of the main building.

[4] Indies Empire style buildings can still be found in major colonial cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta and Surabaya.