A Hong Kong dream home: why it took an Australian couple three years to create the perfect house
Digby and Donna Shepherd took their time when it came to buying and renovating their Sai Kung idyll, and boy, was it worth the wait
Anything worth having is worth waiting for. Just ask Australian Donna Shepherd, who, with husband Digby, took almost two years to buy their Sai Kung house, plus a further 18 months to furnish it. No small amount of effort was required for both.
Having found the unusual property while on a dog walk-cum-house scout, Shepherd remembers thinking, “This is it!” But her husband, a commercial pilot, needed convincing – at that point the house was beyond their price range – which was why, she says, laughing: “I’d deliberately bring him for walks here. Finally, he saw the light.”
Then they started chipping away at the asking price – a process Shepherd understands well: to sell their previous home, which enabled the purchase in 2015 of their current pile, she studied for and obtained a property agent’s licence. Discovering an affinity for the profession, in January this year she set up her own company, Prime Real Estate – a name that only partially describes her own breathtaking find.
On a raised plot hidden from the main road but with idyllic sea views, the three-storey, 1,950 sq ft village house stands out because of its curved facade. Glass panels wrap around the semicircular windows of a double-height lounge and, above it, one end of a large master suite. Outside, a paved area for alfresco living segues into a lawn fringed by palms. It wasn’t always like that, though. “Before, it was jungle all the way to the front door,” Shepherd says. “And the whole house had to be gutted.”
Its transformation owes much to Shepherd’s homewares experience in Australia and Hong Kong, where she and her husband have lived for almost two decades. In the spacious outdoor entertainment areas, the sofa sets, tables and umbrellas all came from her now-closed furniture shop, Wicka Designs. And before that, with her company Antiques Zhuhai, she took visitors on shopping trips across the border.
In turning the four-bedroom house into a home for themselves and their two teenage sons (who attend boarding schools in Australia and spend holidays in Hong Kong), thought went into ensuring everyone had their own space. Above the children’s rooms on the first floor, the main bedroom occupies an entire level, allowing for a garden-facing desk and sitting area, walk-in wardrobe and en-suite bathroom. A large Chinese-style bedhead made in Zhuhai anchors the king-size bed, beside which are tasselled lamps from her old shop.