Singaporean pays US$72m to join Richard Li, Pony Ma in Hong Kong’s most exclusive enclave
The former Wheelock family mansion is located in an elite waterfront community where new residents are vetted by existing owners
A Singaporean buyer linked to an investment firm paid HK$562.6 million (US$72 million) for a historic mansion in Hong Kong’s Shek O, gaining entry into one of the city’s most exclusive residential communities where neighbours include PCCW chairman Richard Li Tzar-kai and Tencent Holdings CEO Pony Ma Huateng.
Land Registry records showed Jennifer Tzelee Teo bought 14 Shek O Road, known as The Round House, under a sale and purchase agreement signed on May 11. The house was long home to the family of the late John Marden, former chairman of Wheelock & Co, and was previously held by his widow, philanthropist Anne Marden, until her death in 2022.
The transaction values the house at roughly HK$91,000 per square foot based on its reported saleable area of 6,163 sq ft.
Built in the 1930s, The Round House is one of the best-known residences in Shek O, a tightly held luxury residential district on Hong Kong Island’s southeastern coast.
Alan Li, a property agent at Habitat Property who has handled leasing deals in the area, said prospective buyers or renters typically needed approval to become members of the community before a transaction could proceed. Existing members are given an opportunity to object to applications, making purchases dependent on more than financial means alone.