Ho Min-kwan, the owner of the historic Ho Tung Gardens, yesterday defended her plans to demolish the main house and replace it with 10 smaller houses as a move to 'improve' her home.
Breaking a long-held silence, the granddaughter of late tycoon Robert Hotung insisted she was motivated by love, not money. She was speaking a day after the government decided to declare the mansion at 75 Peak Road a monument in one month's time despite her objections.
The declaration will be made after the plan is gazetted for a month.
In a letter to the South China Morning Post, Ho, who is in her 70s, criticised officials for taking control of her family home and ignoring her desire to stay. The government's move 'unfairly undermined' her devotion to her grandfather's legacy.
'[The property] is so important to me that I purchased my brother Robert's half interest about 10 years ago for what was then perceived to be an exorbitant price, simply because I could not stand to lose [it],' she wrote. 'And I have maintained it ever since.
'I find deeply offensive any suggestion that my motives are somehow driven by profit, rather than what is in the best interests of Ho Tung Gardens,' she added. 'I am not a real estate developer. I am a homeowner, and Ho Tung Gardens is my family home.'