Howard Wilson writes:
This was the house of my wife's grandfather (James Choy Hing), built around 1915.
Attachment B. The house @ No.2 Park Road - viewed side-on from the West, showing the 4th floor garden conservatory at rear.
Attachment C. Front view of No.2 Park Road, soon after construction (about 1915) showing separate kitchen/servants quarters on the left/East side. This secondary building was constructed in plain style (befitting its purpose), not matching the elaborate decorative style of the main residence.
Attachment D. Front view of No.2 Park Road. Date: 1939, perhaps later, but before Japanese occupation of HK. Note that the old kitchen/servants quarters building has been replaced by a new residential wing (separate new kitchen facility hidden from view). The new wing, of architectural style to match the main residence, was built to accommodate sons reaching adulthood - who would soon acquire wives + children. The displaced servants (19 of them, I'm told) except for child ahmas who lived-in - were accommodated in a nearby building in Breezy Path.
I have the original print of this image - as developed by the local photography shop. It measures 10cm x 7cm, and has the following caption from Choy Hing himself, printed on the back "This is my house. I am standing beside the gate at the enterance". (sic)
Photos that show this Place
Comments
2, Park Road
Henry Ching writes:
I used to attend children’s parties at that house before the war and my memory is that it faced on to Breezy Path rather than Park Road despite its address.
There is an interesting reference in Eric Ho’s “Tracing My Children’s Lineage” where he writes with reference to the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong:
A few months later we did witness a family, by the name of Choy, I believe, being evicted from their house on Breezy Path, opposite Nethersole Hospital...........We saw a contingent of Japanese troops, possibly numbering 100, march up the road to the front of the house, where they waited while some officers went inside. After about one hour the family moved out, and the troops moved in. The home to a large extended family was requisitioned, just like that! Apart from the personal possessions they could carry with them, everything had to be left behind....
Location & orientation of 2, Park Road
The 1924 map, http://gwulo.com/1924-map-hong-kong-western, shows the plot this house stood on. I.L. 605. It was bounded by Park Road, Breezy Path, Bonham Road, and I.L. 591 where Euston was built.
Another pre-WW2 map (Plate 3-5b, Mapping Hong Kong), shows this house named "Breezy Point".
Photos C and D were taken from further up the hill. They both show Park Road on the left, and Breezy Path on the right. That puts the separate servants quarters on the west of the main building, and the facade shown in photo B facing to the east.
Regards, David
2 Park Road
Dear David
Thanks for your pointer to plotting the house on the 1924 map, and for correcting the orientation of buildings (east/west). I'm recording the true position & orientation in the family history - for posterity. There are fewer & fewer folk still with us today who remember details of the original #2 Park Road residence. In the past six months, we have had funerals for three (grand-aged) members of the extended family who lived there in the 1920s-1950s. First-hand memories are hard to come-by, so I was thrilled to read Henry Ching's memory of him attending children's parties at the house.
The responses to published articles (like the ones above) are but one of the reasons why I love the Gwulo website.
hw.
My grandmother lived here
This is the house that my grandmother grew up in. She is the oldest daughter of James T. Choy who was the oldest son of James Choy Hing.
My grandmother was one of the displaced when she was 9 years old as she was the granddaughter of James Choy Hing. She said they went on to stay in her uncle's hospital.
My grandmother is still alive and well at 90 years old. She is now based in San Francisco and enjoys recounting stories of this house.
re: My grandmother lived here
Dear Charissa,
If your grandmother can share any stories of this house, or her time in Hong Kong, here on Gwulo, we'll enjoy reading them.
Regards, David
demolished before 1962-63
Thank you for the stories of this building.
The 3rd generation of 2 Park Road was built in 1962-63 (coloured in red in the 1963 aerial photo). So the 2nd generation would have been demolished before 1962-63.