‘The kitchen was my big blowout’: duplex with an indoors-outdoors feel just right for owner who loves to entertain
Long-time Hong Kong resident Victoria Williams’ Clear Water Bay village house duplex is built to entertain while making the most of its ‘green and tropical’ location
Victoria “Tor” Williams, founder and managing director of Victoria Wines, has just one regret about the 1,400 sq ft duplex she purchased in a Clear Water Bay village house 10 years ago: that she didn’t get to it in time to buy the top floor as well.
“I would have bought the entire house, but my agent didn’t think I’d be interested,” Williams recalls. “I looked at 50 to 60 places, and I was already living in the village, but she nearly didn’t show me this one either.”
The agent thought Williams would be put off by the access. The duplex is reached via a stepped footpath, with no car access, and the neighbours use its front terrace as a path to their own front doors.
“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.”
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.”