Honiton Road is located in the western district of Hong Kong Island, spanning from the junction with Western Street and Bonham Road, going uphill in steep grade and then a sharp left turn and eventually merges into Babington Path near the back entrance to the Pui Ying Middle School. This road is believed to have been built by the Richmond Terrace Estate and Building Company around 1890 as part of private residential home development in this area. The mansion, believed to have been built by the Richmond Terrace Estate and Building Company sandwiched between Honiton Road and Saint Stephen’s Lane, is called the Westbourne Villas. It was a large 2-story English-style mansion with a large flat open area in front of the mansion. The mansion faced Victoria harbour with breathtaking view. Though the villas nestled quite high up in Honiton Road, it still has a Bonham Road address: #84 Bonham Road. By the fifties, it was no longer a residential building. Half of the mansion was leased by Pui Ying as a primary school and the other half by the Rhenish Mission Church also as a primary school. So, the flat area in front of the mansion became the students’ playground.
As I mentioned earlier, when the estate was first developed, in order to create a large flat area in front of the mansion, a retaining wall was built between Honiton Road and St Stephen Lane to keep all the soil in place. To take advantage of this large retaining wall and its location facing Bonham Road, Ray Theatre on Third Street would put a billboard on the wall advertising the current movie showing at the theatre. Remember, back in the sixties, the only way to advertise was either in the newspapers or on local billboard. Advertising on TV and radio was expensive and there was no “internet”.
By the sixties, the Rhenish Mission Church’s half of the mansion was demolished but the Pui Ying part was still standing. It looks like the mansion was originally built in two halves and so taking one half down would not affect the other half structurally.
There were a lot of trees surrounding the Westbourne Villas estate. It is believed that they were planted when the estate was first developed. So, by the sixties, they were all grown into big and tall trees covering most part of Honiton Road. They were mostly banyan trees and another type of trees locally called “cotton” trees. In the summer time, big red flowers would blossom from the cotton tree and by late summer, the flowers would turn into seed pods and when the pods broke open, tiny seeds (size of a pepper corn) , each encased by white fluffy fiber material (like cotton), would be released to the air. If there was a light breeze, these cotton-like seeds would be flowing in the air in the Westbourne Villas and along Honiton Road for a long time. It was quite a scene. Also, during the summertime, the cicadas would emerge from the soil in the estate and climb to the trees and make buzzing noise all days and all nights. I still remember that when I was walking home from school.
By the early seventies, this piece of prime real estate became the target of high-rise developers. By late seventies, the Westbourne Villas estate, including the playground area, had turned into high rises and all the trees were gone. I do not recall a single tree planted in the estate was spared. As this estate turned into a concrete jungle, there was no more cicada to annoy the local residents and no more white fluffy stuff floating around in the summertime.