“I don’t mind ­– that’s village life,” Williams says. “I wanted an open view; that was one of my main things. I love it – it’s so green and tropical.”

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It took imagination to see the duplex’s potential, however. When Williams bought the property it was two flats, one of which – on the ground floor – looked like it had not been touched since it was built about four decades ago.

“The floor was covered in those old green tiles you used to see everywhere in Hong Kong,” Williams says. “There are still a few in the storage area under the stairs.”

The upstairs flat was in better shape, but to turn the two units into one home, both needed to be gutted and reconfigured. Key to getting the layout right was the location of the staircase.

“I sat down with an engineer friend and we used this program called SketchUp to move the staircase around and try it in different places. I wanted the downstairs to be as open as possible,” she says.

Having settled on the most efficient position for the stairs, the walls came down, creating an open-plan living, dining and kitchen space. A wall of bifold doors makes the most of the view, and additional French doors in the dining area and the kitchen door at the rear can all be thrown open to create a fresh, breezy indoors-outdoors ambience for Williams’ many get-togethers.

“I entertain a lot and I love cooking,” she says. “So the kitchen was my big blowout.”

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At its heart, appropriately for someone with a wine importing business, is a large wine fridge: “I think it was the biggest one on the market at the time,” she says. While the cabinetry was imported from Italian kitchen company Modulnova, the black marble breakfast bar was bespoke. It’s a favourite spot for Williams to work from home, with a view across the living space and out to the jungle-clad valley beyond.

She also has the luxury of a dedicated study – positioned at the top of the stairs, between the two bedrooms ­– fur­nished with her old dining table and a sofa bed.

“I never use it­ ­– I have been thinking about turning it into a gym,” she admits. “I much prefer working downstairs with the view. But it has been useful during quarantine. I had a friend staying and he used the study while I worked downstairs.”

Another friend who has stayed in the study, artist Tricky Gee, gave Williams a series of neon-bright paintings as a thank-you present, which now adorns the room. Almost as colourful is a large painting of a horse halfway up the staircase. Many art pieces were picked up overseas, including metal works from Vietnam. “I just knew it would look great on the blue wall,” says Williams.

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The guest bedroom has hosted a series of lodgers and flatmates over the years and is now “quite plain”. The same cannot be said of her master suite, with its view, integral wet room and free-standing bath.

“The bathroom wasn’t supposed to be in the bedroom originally,” Williams says. “But once the wall came down, we decided not to rebuild it – I love having a bath with a view. It’s a single person’s indulgence.”

It’s no longer quite as private as it once was, following the construction of a house partially in front of Williams’ place. But, she says, “they can’t really see in, so sometimes I go ahead and have a bath with the blinds up anyway.”

The en suite toilet, however, is discreetly tucked away in its own small room. There are limits to the open-plan aesthetic, after all.

Dining area The dining table and benches were purchased from Ovo Studio in 2011. “I walked past them every day for weeks, and eventually I went in and bought them,” says Williams. The lampshade came from a shop that has since closed. The curtains were made by Ying Ho Curtain (212 Lockhart Road, tel: 2706 1338).

The bespoke breakfast bar was made with black marble from Kwong Tai Marble (172 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2507 2728) years ago. The pendant lamps, also old, came from PLC (212 Lockhart Road, tel: 2519 9601).

Study The extendable table and sofa bed both came from G.O.D years ago, and the cushions were from Faux, same as before. The office chair was from SofaSale and the bookcase and floating shelves were from Ikea, all acquired years ago.

Bedroom The integral bathroom in the main bedroom makes the most of the open view, Williams says. The Bellini jade stone bath was from E&I International (8/F, Block B, Chung Mei Centre, 15 Hing Yip Street, Kwun Tong, tel: 2384 0682).

The bed was bought years ago from G.O.D and the ceiling fan came from a shop that has since closed. The bathroom tiles, on the walls and floor, were bought years ago from Daugres Ceramiche (154 Lockhart Road, tel: 2877 3008).

Bathroom The bath tap, shower and mixer tap are by Bellini and came from E&I International years ago. The cabinet under the sink was from Homestyle (17/F, Horizon Plaza, Ap Lei Chau, tel: 3482 2149) and the stone top from Sunlight Marble (342 Portland Street, Mong Kok, tel: 2397 8718).

Tried + tested

Sip and dip Perched on the edge of Victoria Williams’ bath is a handy little stand (HK$3,000) perfectly sized for a glass of wine. It was handmade by her friend, Francis Kirstein of Tectonihks, from a broken Perspex stool seat.

“It was the prototype for new seats Frank was making for my kitchen bar stools,” Williams explains. “When I saw it, I loved it – perfect for the bath!”