In the four years before Geoghegan's move from London in February, Taipan House was home to the bank's Asian chairman Vincent Cheng Hoi-chuen and his family. The Chengs moved out earlier this year to make way for renovations ahead of the Geoghegans' arrival.

Those have so far taken seven months and with the historic property still swathed in scaffolding it is unlikely to be ready any time soon. In the meantime, the Geoghegans have been living in hotels including the luxurious Four Seasons. The massive renovation, whose cost has not been disclosed but which includes converting some of the numerous bedrooms into function rooms, is the first big makeover since the bank bought the colonial-style mansion in 1983.

Following the management shake-up announced late last week, it was announced that Geoghegan would step down as chief executive at the end of this year.

Earlier, the bank had announced that chairman Stephen Green would step down, to become trade minister for Britain in January.

Financial director Douglas Flint will succeed Green as chairman and global-investment-banking-head Gulliver will replace Geoghegan. Flint will stay in London while Gulliver will be based in Hong Kong.

But it remains uncertain who will move into Taipan House.

While Gulliver would have the automatic right do so when he takes over in January, a person familiar with his situation said the incoming chief executive has his own properties in Hong Kong and might prefer to live in one of them.

A bank spokesman said Taipan House was for the most senior executive living in Hong Kong. That could be the group chief executive or Asian head, but there had been no decision on whether Gulliver or Wong would move in.

'This is the biggest and the first major redevelopment of the Taipan House since the purchase of the building in 1983,' the spokesman said, answering questions about why it was taking so long.

'This is a very old building. We are not talking about changing the wallpaper but about a major redevelopment.' He said the refurbishment was not for the benefit of any individual but to provide a venue for the top boss of HSBC to live in and to entertain HSBC customers.

The bank declined to disclose the cost of the renovations but said it would offer good value for money and took shareholders' interests into consideration.

Louis Tse Ming-kwong, director of VC Brokerage, said that as HSBC headquarters in Central did not have enough space to entertain guests, Taipan House would serve the purpose. 'HSBC has a lot of wealthy and important clients, so it is worthwhile having Taipan House to act as a clubhouse for them,' Tse said.

HSBC has had several residences over the years for its top executives, where small dinners and annual Christmas parties have been a tradition for the Hong Kong elite.

Best known was Skyhigh, a 20,000 square foot colonial-style mansion perched on top of The Peak that was built for chairman Michael Sandberg in the 1980s and nicknamed Taipan House - or Big Boss House - by locals.

The decision by HSBC Holdings to give up Skyhigh for something further down the hill was said by some to have been a 'lightning' one as the house had been struck by lightning at least once.

Others say Sandberg's successor William Purves simply did not like the Pollock's Path residence that became known as 'Sandberg's Folly' and which was sold for HK$85 million in 1991. After changing hands several times the mansion was demolished and replaced with four separate luxury houses which sold for more than HK$300 million each.

Purves moved to 19 Middle Gap Road, formerly a residence for other senior executives, and it has been known as Taipan House for the past 20 years.

Unlike Skyhigh, which had a 360-degree view of Hong Kong, the Middle Gap Road house overlooks Aberdeen and the south side of Hong Kong Island. Guests who have visited both said the latter, which is surrounded by greenery, is smaller but has a warmer feel.

Between the occupations by Purves and Cheng, the house was occupied by three other taipans: John Gray, John Strickland and David Eldon.

Eldon, who lived in the house for seven years, has fond memories of the place, which he described as big, scenic, and comfortable - a place he said he could call home.

But while HSBC provides its top executives with luxury accommodation, it does not necessarily come with a team of cooks and servants.

Far from it in fact - and the size of the team varies, because the taipans have to pay for their domestic help out of their own pockets.

Purves used a team of Chinese maids dressed in traditional white shirts and black trousers. But Eldon said he had only two Filipino maids when he lived there from 1999 to 2005.