Yuk Sau Street Homes

Hi there,

I believe the red one could be called a mansion by local standard, most likely owned by some rich family back then.  See it has it's own garage on the street level.  Happy Valley used to have quite a lot of these houses around.  Some are sort of walled with a little garden/space.  Try to go along the streets up the slopes.  I think there are still some of these around.

Best Regards,

T

Correct me if I am wrong (I am most of the time!!) , strictly speaking Shophouses were exactly that - buildings with ground-floor shops and residential space above them. The family worked downstairs in the business and then used the upstairs as their living space.

The most easily recognisable type (and my favourite) are the ones that had supporting columns at the front, which were usually used to display the name of the business. I believe these are better known as Guangzhou-style, T would be able to confirm.

They are different to the standard 'Tong Lau' (i.e. Chinese tenement buildings) which were just living quarters. As T says this looks like a large mansion building that has been converted into flats. Nice looking building though.