Baitul Fakir [1914-c.1945] | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Baitul Fakir [1914-c.1945]

Current condition: 
Demolished / No longer exists
Date Place completed: 
c.1914-01-01 (Month, Day are approximate)
Date Place demolished: 
c.1945-01-01 (Year, Month, Day are approximate)

On IL 1890. Site was cleared when Kennedy Road was straightened.

Also called Baitul Fukur. Name of House comes from this discussion

Photos that show this place

Comments

Not sure that the building was demolished in 1949. It appears in a picture from 1939    
https://gwulo.com/atom/17481

but not in any of the pictures from 1945 (that I can find), including this image of HMS Bonaventure    https://gwulo.com/atom/11617

my belief is that it was damaged during the war and completely removed by 1945.  

I'll see if I can find a clear picture from 1945.

Alun

Just a thought. In the HMS Bonaventure photo from 1945/46, would the building on the ridge on Bowen Drive be the same building but without the domes or cupolas?

Id say no, I think I can see the foundations of this building to the left of the 3 ventilators (is that the right word). 14 Bowen Road is at the end of the "crane" to the left of the funnel, and there is a house below that, and the domed house is far below that.
Remember, from the house at the top of Bowen Drive, someone took a photo over the top of this 3 story building, looking at the Navy Yard. so we're looking for a substantial 3 story builidng,

Thanks. I was thinking of the 3-domed building that appears just off middle right below. May have got the wrong building.

1920s Wanchai (Praya East) Reclamation
1920s Wanchai (Praya East) Reclamation, by Moddsey

I think the other builiding is at 50 Kennedy Road, as seen in this other picture  https://gwulo.com/atom/30295

the building we're looking for is the one about an inch to the right, with nothing around it

The house looks like it is still standing in the November 1945 aerial photos; however they are not clear enough to state what condition the house was in 

The below photo shows what is left of the house 30 August 1945, behind the dockyard crane top left of the picture (Zoom in to see). It looks like there is only one storey of the house left.  I have updated the demolish date to 1945 as it is unclear if the house was destroyed in the 1941 fighting or by an errant US bomb. The area of Wanchai just below this was devastated by US bombing so its more likely that this was the cause of its destruction however I believe the front lines had reached around here 25th Dec 1941

HK Liberation 30 Aug 1945
HK Liberation 30 Aug 1945 , by Herostratus