The ancestors of Zheng’s clansman once moved from Xingyang, Henan Province here. According to the recordation in Red volumes of Zheng’s genealogy compiled in the reign of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty, one branch of Zheng’s offspring moved from the north to Luyan, Yangtang of Zeshan, Lingxu County( today’s Xiepu Town of Zhenhai district).

After six generations of breeding, Zheng’s clansman was divided and lived in seventeen houses while becoming a distinguished family of the town. The existing 17 houses were mostly built in the period between Qianlong’s and Guangxu’s reign of Qing Dynasty except several buildings are typical of Ming Dynasty. It was recorded that the gens of Zheng’s 17 houses were among one of the earliest business groups of Ningbo. The seventeen Houses of Zheng’s represented the classical style of residences in Ming and Qing Dynasty in the south part of Yangtze River Basin. Every room constitutes its own system with unique layout and scientific structure and fine workmanship, which implies a great significance for research and sightseeing. The residential clusters border Zhenhai on its east and Ningbo on its south with high mountains as their barriers against harsh winter and wide oceans to coordinate the air temperature. It reveals a typical style of residences in the Central Plain Region with water and mountains in its surrounding.