Braeside - 20 MacDonnell Road [????-????]
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Owned by Sir Poshan Wei Yuk.
"Mr. Wei Yuk's handsome marble residence (to say palace would be no misnomer), which is called Braeside. The explanation for this name is that Mr. Wei Yuk learned his English (which he speaks exquisitely) in Edinburgh, from whose university he was graduated, having been the first Chinese child ever sent out of China to be educated. His house is very English in its appointments, and there are apartments truly Chinese, but we saw only the drawingand dining-room, which were very English indeed. There were present besides the host and hostess their two daughters, two sons, a niece, Mrs. Wei Yuk's brother and brother-in-law, and a few English and Americans. Mrs. Wei Yuk spoke no English, but was very gracious and charming and entirely without the reserve I had expected to find in a native Chinese."
Smiling 'round the World (Google eBook)
Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1908
Photos that show this place
 1900 |
 1907 |
 1907 |
Comments
1905-1917 Boarding House / Private Hotel
Braeside appears many times in the newspapers between 1905 and 1917, advertised as a boarding house or hotel.
An advertisement on the front page of the SCMP for 19 Jun 1905 announced the building was going to become a boarding house:
BOARD AND RESIDENCE.
THE Proprietress of the "TANG YUEN” Boarding House is removing on the 1st July and is opening a larger Boarding House at “BRAESIDE," 20, Macdonnell Road, where the accommodation comprises large Dining and Reception Rooms, large and well furnished Bedrooms, Tennis Courts and large Garden, with fine view of the harbour. Address:—Mrs. F. W. WATTS, “Braeside,” 20, Macdonnell Road.
Here's a typical advert from 1914, on p.11 of the SCMP for 24 Aug:
BRAESIDE PRIVATE HOTEL,
MACDONNELL ROAD. TELEPHONE 690.
Private Residential Hotel, Situated in best part of Hongkong.
Lovely views of Harbour.
Large Airy Rooms, Quiet Suites. Electric Lights and Fans throughout.
Good Tennis and Croquet Lawn.
Excellent cuisine under European supervision.
But on p.6 of the SCMP on 28 Mar 1917, Auctioneers Hughes & Hough were auctioning the contents of "Braeside Hotel" at 20, Macdonnell Road. The list of items to be auctioned mentioned just about everything that could be removed from a building, including cutlery, carpets, a cooking stove, and even the croquet set, so it's clear the business was closing.