Mountain Lodge

Historical image of the second Mountain Lodge, with the Gate Lodge in the foreground.

Mountain Lodge was the former summer residence of the Governor of Hong Kong on Victoria Peak on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. The second building was a two storey Renaissance style home and was demolished in 1946. The site is now the Victoria Peak Garden, a public park.

2007 Archaeological discovery^[1]

During the Peak improvement project in January 2007, pieces of wall, roof tiles and several in situ granite steps beneath the ground were found on the former Mountain Lodge site during pre-construction checks. They have been confirmed to be the original tiles and steps of the second Mountain Lodge. A report with photos showing the original tiles and steps is available online.^[2][3]

History - A Sanatorium

Governor Hercules Robinson (1859 - 1865) had a path cut in December 1859 from what is now Robinson Road to the top of Victoria Peak. The military authorities opened in the spring of 1862, a well-built sanatorium on the plateau below the flag-staff and sent 17 patients to be house their. However, the patients, like those in the rest of Hong Kong that year, did not improve and the military abandoned the site.

The site was then used for picnics until 1867^[4]

Granville and Matilda Sharp (after whom Matilda Hospital is named) whom had long advocated the Peak as a healthy alternative to the lower levels, took a lease of the deserted sanatorium.

The first Mountain Lodge

Governor MacDonnell (1866 - 1872), in 1867, obtained the site from the military and arrangements were made for a bungalow to be built for the Governor's use.^[5] He had noted that the temperature was 14°F less than Central District in the summer.^[6]

There were three main buildings at the first Mountain Lodge. The Lodge itself, faced toward Pok Fu Lam on one side, and the lawn on the other. Two smaller buildings, rather like large European style cabins, and faced the lawn with their backs to the hillside.

A strong typhoon damaged Mountain Lodge in 1874 and James Russell (judge), Chief Justice of the Hong Kong supreme court, applied for a lease on the property in 1875, but it was not granted.

Governor Hennessy (1877 - 1882) engaged in an umbrella fight with a judge at Mountain Lodge, and lost. Photos of two of three buildings on the site are at this reference. ^[7]

Sir William H. Marsh was Colonial Secretary and then the acting Governor, from 1879 - 1886.^[8]. His wife, Mrs. Marsh advertised "at homes" at Mountain Lodge.

In 1892, another typhoon did some damage. You can see photos of both the first and second incarnations of Mountain Lodge at this reference. ^[9]

A second "Mountain Lodge" was designed in 1892 by Francis Cooper, the Director of Public Works. In 1892, the Gate Lodge was built is in Renaissance style. However, when Sir Henry Arthur Blake became Governor, he did not like the proposals.

The second Mountain Lodge

PHOTO: 1903 Mountain Lodge, http://www.grs.gov.hk/PRO/imgroot/2-4/2-4-80.jpg

Instead, he appointed Palmer & Turner for another design. This second design was constructed in the Renaissance style of Scottish lodges and built between 1900 and 1902. The building was described by the media as the most imposing and handsome architecture on the peak.

Governor Sir Francis Henry May and Lady May used it extensively and there are several photos of their family showing everyday life at Mountain Lodge 1910 - 1920.^[10] Thomas Southorn also lived there with his wife, including during 1925-36.^[11]

Notes on the Photo: The lawn in front of the mansion is now the car park for the Victoria Peak Garden public park. The lawn on the lower left was the site of the first Mountain Lodge.

1920 through demolition

Sir Cecil Clementi had it refurnished for his use in 1925, and included a small safe. ^[12]

In 1932, it was proposed that the Governor have a house in Fan Ling, and plans were then made to abandon Mountain Lodge.^[13] In 1938, it was proposed that both Government House and Mountain Lodge be abandoned, and a single home built at Magazine Gap.

The Second World War intervened.

The building no longer exists as it was demolished in 1946. The Gate Lodge and the granite foundations remain, however.

The whole site was opened as a park (the current Victoria Peak Garden) to the public. The existing pavilion of the Garden was built upon the masonry platform of the former Mountain Lodge.

Three identical marking stones for the Lodge were rediscovered in 1978; since then, one of them has been placed at the northeast corner of the former lodge grounds. One of the three GOVERNORS RESIDENCE stones has been erected in a flowerbed close to the Government House, Mid-levels since 1980.

Plans

Plan of Mountain Lodge proposed additions (floor plans and elevations), 28 October, 1873.^[14]

Plan of Mountain Lodge addictions, from 1879-1894 ^[15]

Plan of proposed Mountain Lodge September, 1899.^[16]

References

1. ^ Photos and floorplan
2. ^ 2007 Peak archaeological survey Photos
3. ^ 2007 Peak archaeological survey Text
4. ^ Hong Kong: Somewhere between Heaven and Earth - letters of Matilda and Lucilla Sharp
5. ^ Europe in China - by Eitel
6. ^ CityLife article by Arthur Hacker - A Cut Above
7. ^ CityLife article by Arthur Hacker - The eccentric Governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Pope Hennessy
8. ^ [China Mail 1879-1886]
9. ^ Voices from the past: Hong Kong, 1842-1918 by Solomon Bard
10. ^ A collection of photos at the Hong Kong Public Records Office
11. ^ Out and about - Bella Southorn's stories reflect the life she loved as the wife of a colonial civil servant, SCMP Post Magazine, Jason Wordie, 24 Apr 2011
12. ^ Legco Report, 8 March 1926 .
13. ^ Legco Report, 6 Oct 1932
14. ^ Hong Kong Public Records Office
15. ^ Hong Kong Public Records Office
16. ^ Hong Kong Public Records Office

External links

• Gate Lodge (English)

Coordinates: 22°16′27″N 114°08′46″E / 22.2743°N 114.146°E / 22.2743; 114.146