The funding is part of a larger project initiated by the French region with the aim of preserving a number of historic and culturally significant homes in the province that are in disrepair and are now facing the threat of demolition to make way for land sales.

Hue City is home to 900 old houses, with 237 of them already being designated as being in urgent need of preservation. Nearly 150 of them have been selected for restoration.

The restoration project is expected to run from 2006 to 2010 at a cost of VND2.6 billion.

Thua Thien-Hue Province had offered incentives to homeowners to encourage the preservation of the houses.