The transition from city living to South Lantau was made easy thanks to a light-filled family home surrounded by nature.
White, light and relaxing: this Lantau beach house proved the passport to a better life for Peter Millward and Tomoko Okamura. The couple, who are expecting their first baby early next year, traded in their urban Happy Valley pad for the open spaces of South Lantau.
'I had been thinking I'd like to move to South Lantau, but thought it would be in 10 years or so,' says Millward, a British-born music producer who has lived in Hong Kong for more than 15 years with his Japanese wife Okamura, a handbag designer. 'But then we decided to put our Happy Valley flat on the market and the time seemed right to move here.'
Although Okamura was not convinced about moving to what some would consider a distant location, the couple now love their new home. Millward has a long list of reasons why: 'Where do we start? It's quiet all the time. There's no traffic, the air is breathable, the mountains are behind us and the beach is in front. We have a garden, can go hiking, ride a bicycle, swim in the sea. It's a completely different life. A real life.'
They opted for a two-storey, semi-detached house that offered 700 sq ft per floor. 'We wanted a garden and privacy. The house we chose was the right size and fitted our budget,' says Millward. However, it needed work to brighten some dark areas and maximise its potential.
The couple asked architect Bun Ho of su:b design (tel: 6773 7292) for assistance. They knew Ho's work when he was with design studio K+K, which renovated Millward's former home and music studios. The design brief was simple. 'We wanted more space, more light, an open kitchen and easy access to the garden.'