This villa may be the House marked 5, occupied by missionary Rev Julius Kempf in this 1911 picture.
From the photographic evidence, Number 15 was certainly in place on Fa Peng in the 1930s. Most villas were sturdily built with locally quarried granite blocks and shuttered windows against the typhoon season.
The property there now is a two-storey colonial-style villa, with verandah, which may be the original villa restored or rebuilt. The verandah and main entrance would appear to be facing north, which is unique among the original colonial villas, which faced south. On the west side, there is a wide, raised decking area with a jacuzzi and access to the rooftop with further tables and chairs and terrific 360 views of the island. It gives us an idea of the views enjoyed by the other houses on Fa Peng. House 15 is similar to House 2 with 3 arches to its verandah, but House 2 is a bungalow.
The owner of this house in 1938 was Mr J J Lossius, who may be this person, a Norwegian sea captain, amongst other things.
We have these two recent accounts of the property from members tngan and tung lin, and a photo from tngan.
Submitted by tngan on Sun, 06/29/2014 - 01:02
I was in the area earlier today (28th June) and I think House #15 might have been demolished quite a while ago. Only the foundation remains. The site was fenced off so I was unable to go near the foundation. The two red roadside signs of 歸元精舍 on Fa Peng Road still exist though.
I remember reading a certain Island District Board member petitioned to turn #15 into a private columbaria. Don't know if this is the case.
There are a few ruins in numbers 14A & 14 on the opposite sides. Maybe #13 too.
Submitted by tung lin on Wed, 07/09/2014 - 11:02
During mid-1950s......
My memory of House #15--the Kwai Yuen Jin Seh was at its prime time. A very beautifully-built oriental residence of certain traditional religious depicts with flowering garden at every quarter. It seemed to be a retirement home for the very rich Chinese retirees to stay both short term and long term. At my time, I really didn't know what the house's business was.
Sometimes we dared to walk through the property and the seniors didn't bother about our trespassing.
Photos that show this Place
Comments
Wow! Check out this website: Secret Retreat - Cheung Chau House 1967.
I think this fabulous looking 'colonial style' Secret Retreat is our European House 15.
And for a virtual tour of the place, click on 360 View under the main pic. A rare view of the inside of one of our Cheung Chau missionary houses. And 360 views from the rooftop lounge.
I've come across it before but not been able to place it, but tngan's recent photo cracked it.