Mansion has quaint history
Two of Hollywood's greatest heartthrobs may have walked the rooms and grounds of the imposing Chinese-style mansion at 45 Stubbs Road, Mid-Levels, but that is not why it holds fond memories for Wynne Ward.
It is because the house, with its panoramic views over Victoria Harbour, is the handiwork of her father, A.R Fenton-Raven, a Yorkshireman, who came to Hong Kong as a civilian attached to the British Army in 1903 and later returned to England to qualify as an architect, building some of the city's memorable early buildings.
The house, which has only had two owners in 68 years and which is now up for sale by tender, was a major backdrop for films Soldier of Fortune (1955), starring Clark Gable, and Love is a Many- Splendored Thing (1955) with William Holden.
Mrs Ward, who lives in Stanley, recalls the days during construction of the mansion, with its Chinese roof, and her father's dramatic experience in the city, including being a prisoner of war under the Japanese.
'I was in England when Soldier of Fortune was shot in the house, but a close friend played an extra in a big dinner party scene,' said Mrs Ward, who has lived in Hong Kong for more than 80 years and believes she may be the oldest surviving person of English descent born in the city.
Despite missing the chance of a part in the famous film, Mrs Ward spent some of her youth in the house. 'It is a nice house which all the tourists stop and look at,' Mrs Ward said.
She recalled how her father was asked to design and build the house by the original owner, C.Y. Shum. Although too young to understand reasons for the Chinese-style design, she remembered the idea came from Mrs Shum Li Po-lun.
But the husband and wife were involved in a dispute over the ownership of the house when it was sold to Stephen Yow Mok-shing, the second and only other owner, in 1977.
With the luxury home market booming, Mr Yow is selling the 25,000 square foot house, which sits on a 50,650 sqft site.
With strong demand but limited supply of luxury houses, property consultants expect the buyer will demolish the house and build several town houses.
'It will be a crime if the house is pulled down,' said Mrs Ward whose opposition to demolition is understandable given the house is the only remaining example of her father's work in Hong Kong.
'He built a lot of houses and buildings. But they have been torn down,' she said.
Fenton-Raven, who was born in 1877, married in England while qualifying as an architect and returned to Hong Kong in 1913, where he established his business.
During the second world war, he sent his wife and two daughters to Australia while he remained in Hong Kong. He was interned in a Stanley prisoner of war camp from 1941 to 1945, and restarted his business after the war and lived in Hong Kong until he died in 1965.
The buildings Fenton-Raven designed included two three-storey blocks in Wong Nai Chung Gap Road, which were replaced by the two blocks of Nicholson Tower.
'We kept one block and sold the other. My father always told me to keep money in bricks and mortar.'
The site where the Cricket Club in Kowloon now stands used to be owned by Fenton-Raven. He also owned a bungalow in North Point which, at the time, was rural.
He also built houses on the site where Tung Shan Terrace now stands. The owner of Tung Shan Terrace, Shun Tak Holdings, is selling the property by tender, which closes by the end of this month.
With the surge in the luxury market, Mrs Ward understood developers wanted to redevelop big houses into smaller town houses to maximise profits.
However, she thought the government should help keep valuable historical assets, such as 45 Stubbs Road, for the city and its people.
