A Hong Kong house with an enviable games room
More than a decade after moving into their multi-storey Stanley house a couple couldn’t wait to go from all-white to dark and dramatic
Tastes have moved on since 2005. Back then, when new owners moved into this 2,300-sq-ft, split-level house, in Stanley, it had just been renovated. It had pure white walls, polished white limestone floors, a state-of-the-art kitchen and an open-plan layout centred round a three-floor atrium. It was bright, white, glossy and very “now”.
But that was then. By 2016, it was time for a change. The minimalist kitchen on the second floor had been tweaked in 2010, with shiny white cabinetry and a second oven. In the first-floor living room, the glossy white flooring had been replaced with walnut.
“The limestone was easily damaged – it looked great for about a week. Besides, I really like wood,” says the woman owner, who, like her Welsh husband, is retired from the market-research industry.
Now they were ready to give their home a more extensive facelift.
“We wanted more character, more colour. We got bored with all the white,” she says.
Enter interior designer Mary Wong Ho-yan, of Haven Design.
Rather than renovate the entire house, Wong was asked to focus on three floors: the games room, the master suite and the conservatory. (The split-level house has one room per floor, starting at the basement: games room, entry lobby, lounge, kitchen, master suite, study-bedroom, conservatory and guest suite.)