King Yin Lei sits above the Happy Valley Racecourse, its striking red brick and green tile facade tucked among typical Mid-levels high rises. Designed by British architect A. R. Fenton-Raven in 1937, the mansion’s East-meets-West architecture is unusual for a time in Hong Kong’s colonial history when the Chinese population was snubbed by high society. This style was what the original owner of the home, stock investor and scion of the Li family, Li Po-lun, favored.
Having been declared a monument in 2008, the mansion’s gardens, pavilions and terraces are now only open to the public a mere few days per year… although you can always catch a glimpse of the structure in various movies and TV series like “Enter the Dragon” and “Soldier of Fortune.”
