Old Hong Kong mansion set to get new lease of life with conservation project tied to nearby transitional housing scheme
- Built in the 1930s by a Hakka gold merchant, the 27-room Kong Ha Wai ended up being used as a factory, landscape nursery and warehouse
- Developer is consulting professionals to examine ways to restore the structure and architectural features of the building
Veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Alex Cheung Kwok-ming never imagined he would once again step into Kong Ha Wai, a historic mansion in rural Yuen Long, and revisit his childhood memories after he was unable to enter the site two decades ago.
The 27-room mansion, built by a Hakka gold merchant for his family in the 1930s, had seen better days, having survived second world war and undergone big alterations after being used for factory operations decades ago. Now a major property developer is conserving the building for community use to complement a sizeable social housing project nearby.
“It was an extraordinary experience living there,” Cheung, 69, said. “The house was huge for me, especially when I was a kid. I felt like I was living in a mansion in an ancient Chinese drama.”
Back in the 1950s, from the age of seven, Cheung lived in Kong Ha Wai for two years with his grandmother and two siblings. He played in the garden with other children, and also liked picking vegetables and tomatoes at the roadside.
But when he returned to the site with his wife and daughter 20 years ago, they were shocked to find it had been turned into a factory, which he described as foul and unpleasant, and a waste of a beautiful building.
Henderson Land Development, the current owner of Kong Ha Wai, plans to spend HK$20 million to HK$30 million on conserving the grade-three historic building, which stands on a 53,000 sq ft site. It is the developer’s first conservation project.