Quite possibly built between 1910-1915, this house was certainly in place in 1919 as the Government map of that year shows, marked as IL22.
The earliest owner we have on record for this house is a German artist by the name of Gustav Schleicher who painted a watercolour of the house in July 1933, with a note 'I live here' and 'pretty??'
In the 1938 list of European owners of houses on Cheung Chau, we are given the name 'Mr Smith' as the owner of #20.
A name almost impossible to place but in the European Reservation thread, mention is made of Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Wesleyan Sailor's and Soldier’s Home) visiting the island for a meet-up of Cheung Chau residents at The Breakers and staying at #26.
The Southern Baptist Commission Magazine of June and September 1941 give House #20 as the address of missionary Rev Cecil S Ward. He and his wife Margaret had just been appointed to serve in Canton in 1940 so they must have been doing their language study at the Language School on Cheung Chau. Consequently they were captured by the Japanese and interned on Stanley in 1942, but repatriated to the USA later that year.
Regarding the post-war owners, Kirsty Norman tells us that this was the home of Edgar and Käthe Chaffoy de Courcelles, rebuilt in 1946 soon after their return to Hong Kong following the war. They named it The Rockies—after the dramatic boulders surrounding it. Käthe was German and the couple both spoke German.
Although Edgar worked in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island, the couple lived on Cheung Chau until 1953, when his business, The Orient Tobacco Manufactory, was sold, and they retired to Portugal. They were never drawn to city life, and they cherished this house deeply.
When they left Hong Kong, they sold the property to the Catholic Church.
The house may be seen in the Cheung Chau aerial photograph of 1963.
Since then, the site has been redeveloped and is now the location of the Seascape Peninsula Apartments.
Comments
Owners of House #20
[Updated 23/Sept/2026]
Quite possibly built between 1910-1915, this house was certainly in place in 1919 as the Government map of that year shows, marked as IL22.
The earliest owner we have on record for this house is a German artist by the name of Gustav Schleicher who painted a watercolour of the house in July 1933, with a note 'I live here' and 'pretty??'
In the 1938 list of European owners of houses on Cheung Chau, we are given the name 'Mr Smith' as the owner of #20.
A name almost impossible to place but in the European Reservation thread, mention is made of Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Wesleyan Sailor's and Soldier’s Home) visiting the island for a meet-up of Cheung Chau residents at The Breakers and staying at #26.
The Southern Baptist Commission Magazine of June and September 1941 give House #20 as the address of missionary Rev Cecil S Ward. He and his wife Margaret had just been appointed to serve in Canton in 1940 so they must have been doing their language study at the Language School on Cheung Chau. Consequently they were captured by the Japanese and interned on Stanley in 1942, but repatriated to the USA later that year.
Regarding the post-war owners, Kirsty Norman tells us that this was the home of Edgar and Käthe Chaffoy de Courcelles, rebuilt in 1946 soon after their return to Hong Kong following the war. They named it The Rockies—after the dramatic boulders surrounding it. Käthe was German and the couple both spoke German.
Although Edgar worked in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island, the couple lived on Cheung Chau until 1953, when his business, The Orient Tobacco Manufactory, was sold, and they retired to Portugal. They were never drawn to city life, and they cherished this house deeply.
When they left Hong Kong, they sold the property to the Catholic Church.
The house may be seen in the Cheung Chau aerial photograph of 1963.
Since then, the site has been redeveloped and is now the location of the Seascape Peninsula Apartments.
Cox, Dorothy and Pixie Smith
A possible Smith candidate for the owners of House 20?