European House #18 / IL13, Cheung Chau [????- ]

[Updated 26/Apr/2026]

European House #18 was built in the early 20th century when Cheung Chau was found to be an ideal alternative to The Peak as a site for holiday villas.  There was a flurry of building from 1908-15, and it was built during that time.

Going by the photographic and survey evidence, House #18 was a bungalow, sturdily built of locally quarried granite blocks, secure enough to withstand the typhoon season, with a flat concrete roof.  Like the other houses, it faced south, with a separate servants' cabin on two levels, half alongside, like House #11.

It enjoyed fine views west to Lantau and south-west over Cheung Chau and islands to the south.

In the winter 1932-33, there was a new owner who had a verandah built on the front (see moddsey's post below).

At some point a cottage was added to the rear and linked with the servants' cabin and the front house, making a large property.

In 1938 the owner of this house was recorded as Mr G F Sauer.  There is a Georg Friedrich Sauer who appears on the HK jury lists. He was a pharmacist and worked for China Export-Import & Bank Co, Ltd.  He is recorded as living on the premises there.  Perhaps this was a pied-à-terre.  Don Ady talks about a missionary family named Sauer in the Canton area in the 1940s.  Perhaps something will come up on them.

The aerial shot of 1963 shows all the buildings in place.  

The current photograph of the property shows the front cottage has gone, leaving just its floor plan, and behind we have the two-level servants' cabin and the rear bungalow cottage.  It is numbered as 18 Fa Peng Road.