Agnes Keith's House

Tham Kung Temple I Sam Sing Kung Chinese Temple I Puu Jih Shih Buddhist Temple I The Australia Memorial I Agnes Keith's House I Masjid Jamek I St Michael's & All Angels Church I Berhala Island I Japanese Cemetery I The Central Market

Another link with the past can be found in Agnes Keith's house. Situated on a hill at Jalan Istana overlooking Sandakan Bay, it was the home of Conservator of Forests, Harry Keith and his American wife, Agnes Keith, a writer, from the 1930s until 1942. Agnes' book on life in pre-war Sandakan popularised the old seafarer's name for Sabah in its title, "Land Below the Wind" (referring to Sabah's location just below the typhoon belt). Her second book, Three Came Home, about their war experiences was made into a movie. Their two-storied wooden bungalow, built on a ridge overlooking the town, was destroyed during WW2 but reconstructed when the Keiths returned in 1946. Conservation and rebuilding of the house is in progress.