The Starbucks Inside a 1960s Architect's House

Writing an article about a Starbucks is a strange thing to do. They're everywhere. But this one, tucked into an alley in Jangchung-dong (장충동), is a place you go for the building, not the coffee.

Jangchung Lounge R opened in September 2024. It's the tenth of what Starbucks Korea calls its "special stores" — locations built into buildings with a history rather than a standard retail box (the same program that turned a textile factory into the Gyeongdong 1960 store). This one is a two-story house from the 1960s, designed by Na Sang-jin, one of Korea's first-generation architects, whose signature was horizontal lines running the length of a space. Korean press likes to call it a former "chaebol house" — whose house it actually was is in Daniel's note below.

The point is that Starbucks didn't gut it. Seven rooms are kept in the original residential layout, each given its own character. On the ground floor: a Living Room (home to a mixology bar serving 11 cocktails — the first Starbucks bar of its kind in Korea), a Parlor Room with the original window frames, a House Heritage Room displaying Na Sang-jin's original blueprints, and a garden. Upstairs: a Lounge, a Fireplace Room with the original fireplace, a Music Room with a turntable and vinyl, and a Reading Room. The basement, once the garage, is now a waiting area with a small AR exhibition. About 430 square meters, 180 seats.

The "R" is for Reserve — it pours the premium bean line, and drinks cost more than at a standard Starbucks.

A Note From Daniel — our real human editor

This one is genuinely hard to find. It's down an alley, and if you're just following a map app you'll walk right past it — from the street it doesn't read as a cafe entrance at all. It's also worth knowing the house has a specific history rather than a vague "old" one: it was built for the family behind Daesun Flour Mills, and it carries its own name. The room I go back for is the Fireplace Room upstairs — in the evening it has a particular hush that makes it better for actually talking to whoever you came with. One practical thing: the store carries no decaf beans at all, so if you're sensitive to caffeine, order tea rather than coffee.

To be straight about it: Starbucks Korea has several concept stores — Gyeongdong Market (경동시장), a riverside one in Yangpyeong (양평), a hanok in Daegu. What makes this one worth a mention is the location — a quiet residential street well off the tourist grid — and how intact the house is. It isn't a cafe made to look old. It's an actual house, adapted with a light touch. That's the same distinction as Taegeukdang down the road being genuinely old rather than deliberately retro — which makes it feel less like a coincidence that the two sit in the same neighborhood.

What this means if you're visiting

• "It's a Starbucks, why bother" is a fair question. You're not making the trip for the coffee. If architecture, interiors, and adaptive reuse interest you, it earns the detour; if not, it's a stop-in-if-you're-passing.
• Pair it with Taegeukdang — or the church. Taegeukdang and Kyungdong Church are both in Jangchung-dong too, a 5–7 minute walk from Dongguk University Station (Line 3) — this store from exit 3, the other two from exit 2. Grab a monaka, see the church, have a coffee here — it makes an easy half-day.
• Getting a seat. 180 seats sounds roomy, but special stores draw weekend and social-media traffic. Weekday mornings or late afternoons are calmer. Hours are roughly 9am–9pm; check before you go.
• The mixology bar. A Starbucks that serves cocktails is part of this store's novelty. Whether it's running, and what's on it, can vary — confirm on arrival.

Mina's Tip

Go on a weekday if you can. The ground-floor Heritage Room, with Na Sang-jin's original blueprints, is the part most people walk straight past — and it's the whole reason the store exists, so give it a minute. Don't come on a weekend afternoon expecting a quiet neighbourhood secret; come for a specific off-peak hour and you'll have the house closer to how it was meant to feel.