This residence can be traced back to 1847, at the time a "rent house" for the Lin Ben Yuan family in the north.

Currently, the Lin Family Mansion and Garden is under the joint responsibility of the Executive Yuan Cultural Construction Committee, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Transportation and Communications Tourism Bureau, Taiwan Provincial Government, and the New Taipei City Government for protection and restoration work, who have additionally designated it as a Class-2 Historical Site.

Due to its wealth and power, the Lin Ben Yuan family became the main leaders of the Zhangzhou immigrants, and the mansion became their erstwhile headquarters.

Previously there had been several thousand scrolls of books within their collection here and there was no lack of good volumes from the Song and Yuan dynasties: It served as a study for the boys of the Lin family.

It is a three jian (間) pavilion, partitioned in both front and back, with lattice doors to ease ingress and egress.

In the front courtyard flower pots are arranged, in which are placed rare and exotic flora, livening up the ancient feeling of Lin Family Garden with a feast for the eyes.

Welcoming you[tone] in is Laiqingge, startlingly standing in the center of the courtyard, villages also used to call it "Xiulou" (繡樓) or "Shuzhuanglou"(梳粧樓).

In front of the building there is a theatrical stage, with a horizontal inscription reading, "Open the windows with a smile (開軒一笑)."

The enclosure of the little courtyard to the front of the tower has scroll-shaped, carved wall, as is a folk saying "Open the door to see the mountain (開門見山)".

Even more enchanting is what is on the walls: fruit-shaped openwork windows, borrowing pomegranates, pumpkins, immortality peaches, and persimmons as the patterns, which respectively carry connotations of fortune (福), emolument (祿), longevity (壽), and happiness (喜).

Dingjingtang, a siheyuan, occupies the widest space within the garden, and there are pavilions linking the front and rear courtyards together.

The external appearance of Dingjingtang shares some semblance with a residence, and the enclosures at either end use octagonal tiles and openwork windows shaped like butterflies and bats on the walls, which represent "bestowing fortune" (賜福).

Because it extends from the surface of the water, it is joined to the shore by a little bridge; the roof has a platform, allowing people to observe the Moon.

Jingziting is the only facilities on the grounds built for the purpose of "Treasuring the Written Word," which from the past to the present has been pursued to the utmost.