A leading opera singer took charge to create a relaxing sea-side bolt-hole far from the drama of the stage.
Tang Yuen-ha, a well-known Peking Opera and Kun Qu performer, approached the styling of her Hebe Haven village house with the same confidence that imbues her work with Jingkun Theatre company. But while her roles demand a level of spirit and ostentation, Tang's home has the relaxed feel of a Sunday afternoon.
'There need not be rules or labels in designing your own home,' says Tang, 'as long as you believe in your own taste.'
Four years ago, Tang left the family nest in Baguio Villa, Pok Fu Lam, to search Sai Kung for her own perch. 'My dad was very fond of the area,' she remembers. 'When I was a little girl, he would bring my sister and me out here every chance he got. We'd walk along the bay and look at the boats.'
The 1,750 sq ft, sea-facing house, which was partitioned at the time into a top-floor unit and a duplex, and rented to separate tenants, was the first of many she looked at. Standing on the corner of a village promenade, it boasts a 270-degree view of Hebe Haven bay and the surrounding coastline from the porch.
'Just one house over, the feeling would have been very different. I love the fact if I look left, it feels like a sleepy Riviera port town and, if I look right, it is decidedly poetic in the style of Chinese brush-ink landscapes.'
