Nam Koo Terrace

Wan Chai was the earliest district developed and one of the most beautiful historical sites in Hong Kong, and Ship Street was populated by the Chinese community. Constructed in 1918, the brick red mansion, which overlooks the busy harbor, was once the residence of the wealthy Shanghainese To family. To Chun-man, a wealthy businessman leased the land lot in 1915 and sold the property in 1921 to his younger brother To Jaak-man, who followed his in-laws to Hong Kong to make a living as Wing On Company Limited’s Chief Chinese Silks Salesman and later on Secretary for the Commercial Chamber of The Heung Shan District.

Nam Koo Terrace embraces the Colonial Eclectic style, combining Classical Revival and Italian Renaissance architectural features with traditional Chinese motifs and decorations. Elevated from Wan Chai’s hustle and bustle, the “mid-levels” property also has a water lily pond and a pavilion. So, it isn’t unimaginable when Hopewell Holdings, which bought the property from the To family in 1988, submitted an application to the Town Planning Board to convert the building into a marriage registry in 2018. The only thing is the mysterious death of To Jaak-man inside the mansion in 1943 and the conversion of the place into a ‘comfort station’ where women were forced into prostitution by the imperial Japanese army during the Japanese Occupation make the site a notorious haunted house.