Douglas Villa, view from Caine Road

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Douglas Villa, view from Caine Road


The story of this photo which comes to light from archives was retold in a MSc dissertation in 2011. [1]
I found the photo again recently, after last year viewing on some facebook. Unlikely, but one has been posted on a local food website since 2010. [2]

Timing of this photo is c.1880s. (updated)

As on a Catholic publication, this photo is annotated as Dominican Procuration on Caine Road (viz. Spanish origin). There is one news reported on Hongkong Daily Press also, in the year 1890. [3]
The French Procuration was on Caine Road address from c.1890s. [4]
The two missions appear to be closely related. Actually, some description about usage of the place c.1904 from Jill could be referred (link, on gwulo)
 

Some considerations about the exact building and location showed by the photo :

◾ it is of similar outlook, roof parts as the one marked 'aw' on a gwulo panorama photo (c.1879)
◾ the building is of similar outward layout as in the Plan of Victoria 1901, including the steps leading to the building
◾ there is a large open space before the building, rather far off from nearby sidewalk, which faces Caine Road likely
          "... turned into a delightful but rather neglected old garden and mounted a long flight of steps to a mansion" (c. 1919, link on gwulo)
◾ on the right end, some rocks and stone walls could be seen,
    the locale is rather compatible with Peel Street, but not Shelley Street [5]; in fact, some of these stone walls still exist today, as on upper part of Peel Street;
    (that building on top right is Lower Mosque Terrace possibly, of similar era)
 
I am pretty sure expert readers may have more info to enrich for this image. Further comments from readers are most welcome.

 

sources and notes
1. quote and re-phrase from Mr Yu Ka Sing's work :
       in 2006, the cafe owner wanted to let other people know more about the history of the place and requested related photo from the HK Catholic Archives
       ... made a sign and hanged it on the balustrade next to the stair of the Mid-levels Escalator.
    The dissertation 'Spatial Heritage : Examining Terraces... ' could be found in the HKU Scholars Hub.

2. It was even covered by a tourists' website in Japan around early 2010s.

3. about purchase of Douglas Villa, on HK Daily Press, 1890-5-22

4. Procure des Missions Étrangères, as on Directories and Chronicles of 1890s

5. these points above rule out mistaking it the building nearby on 32 Caine Road (house no. c.1904-1907), which is close to the sidewalk

    (more detailed references and excerpts may be furnished by me later, when needed)

Date picture taken
unknown
Shows place(s)
Douglas Villa - IL 151 [1880-????]

Comments

I would reconsider this photo as being circa 1890-1910. It’s more likely to be earlier. 

Anyone who has lived in hot, humid, subtropical Hong Kong can instantly tell this whitewashed façade of the building cannot be decades old. 

The garden in front is well-maintained and new. The tender bushes are barely 8 feet in height. They are even triple staked for their own stability given their youth and the mercurial typhoons of this region. They are staked as they are newly planted, not mature and the roots are still shallow.

This photo is pointedly taken mid-morning for its good lighting to show off the grand building by the proud single occupant who is standing front and centre on the top floor veranda looking directly at the photographer. I wonder if it could be the American Counsel John Singleton Mosby (1833-1916), who served in that capacity from 1878-1885. The auction of the contents of Doulgas Villa West as advertised in The China Mail on 16th July 1885 included, among other things, “Plants in Pots” – which we can see plenty of in this photo. If it was a religious institution you would see a plethora of staff in the photo, not just one chap. 

I also wonder, given the view is almost level with the first floor of Douglas Villa and looking down onto its front garden, that the photo was taken from an elevated storey of a building on Caine Road, such as Kingsclere.

Thus the photo is likely between 1880-1885, more likely earlier in that range i.e. 1880-1881. 

David, thanks for your kind inputs. We are well informed more unnoticed details of the photo now. It is updated in the text above.
 

After Mosby, the US Consul Withers also resided here for few years, c.1886-1889.
No. 1 Douglas Villa had been on let for one day 1 June 1886 (Hk Daily Press) while the ad changed to No. 2 Douglas Villa on let from 2 June 1886, until September end.
So is there some slight possibility that the man is Mr R.E. Withers, on the first floor of Douglas Villa West (i.e. No. 1) ?
Maybe the HK newspapers and directories could not give us more clues.

 

sources
HK Daily Press 1886-6-1 & onwards; China Mail 1886-5-31 & onwards (assume no typos on the newspapers and directories)

I did consider Withers as the man but we will have to take into account the barely-there weathering of the building - it's really clean in this photo. If we argue the facade had a subsequent facelift it would mean cleaning the really hard-to-get places like the gables in front - they look real clean and new in this photo. Compare with the buildings behind-left of the photo that have been around for longer. Also the as-yet-unidentified building behind at top right looks bang-spanking-new. If someone can identify that building and when it existed it should add further clarity to the photo's date. 

I think the building in the top right corner could be Upper Mosque Terrace and agree that Peel Street runs up the hill between it and the building in the foreground. 

The roofline of the building in the foreground is very ornate. Could those thingy's sticking up be crosses or angels or statues of Christ with his arms out? To my admittedly inexpert eyes, the building looks like something that was originally designed for a Catholic institution, rather than as a "normal" residence or even an Embassy. Of course, that doesn't prevent the tenants changing anytime after completion. 

Some of the maps from the 1890's and early 1900's label it as Mission de Estrangeres  (or Etrangeres?). Could it have started life as a Catholic institution, then becoming the US Embassy, then reverting back to having a religious tenant (MIssion de Estrangeres), all by the late 1890's?