Stone House (Diamond Hill)
The Stone House is the last structure remaining from the former Tai Hom squatter village. The building is located at No. 4 Tai Koon Yuen (大觀園), Tai Hom, in the Wong Tai Sin District of Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. In 2002, Hong Kong's Antiquities Advisory Board recognized Stone House as a Grade III historic building.[1]
| Stone House | |
|---|---|
石寓 | |
 The Stone House in October 2009. | |
| General information | |
| Classification | Grade III historic building |
| Location | Tai Hom, Kowloon |
| Address | No. 4 Tai Koon Yuen |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Completed | 1940s |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Granite |
| Stone House | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 石寓 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
History
The Stone House was built in the 1940s.[1] It was built of granite from the Diamond Hill Stone Quarry,[1] and was a typical structure within the area.[2] The construction of the Stone House was based on one of China's four great classical novels, Dream of the Red Chamber.[3] In 1947, land was bought by Yang Shou-ren (楊守仁), who named it Tai Koon Yuen; several film studios were subsequently set up in the area. Several businessmen then set up two–storied stone houses, providing residence for artists and film makers.[1] The Stone House was owned by Wu Jun-zhao (吳君肇), ex-manager of the former Shanghai Bank of Communications, who rented it to the actor Roy Chiao[1] between the 1950s and 1960s.[4] The house at 5 Tai Koon Yuen, now demolished, was once the accommodation of film director Li Han-hsiang.[4]
Redevelopment
On September 6, Oriental Daily, the best-selling Chinese-language daily in Hong Kong published a story explaining that the government proposed to downgrade the building to "nil grade" classification. The newspaper article suggested that the proposed new classification may be aimed at easing construction of the Sha Tin to Central Link. The "nil grade" classification was confirmed on August 31, 2010.[5]
References
- "Brief Information on Proposed Grade Nil Items", pp.319-320 Archived 2013-10-22 at the Wayback Machine. Antiquities and Monuments Office. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
- 〈留住香港荷李活藝人「發迹地」 倡建創意電影工業園〉，《明報》，2008年4月16日。
- 〈大磡村三寶面臨清拆〉，《太陽報》， 2009年9月6日。
- The Conservancy Association: Tai Hom Village Archived 2009-03-07 at the Wayback Machine
- List of the 1,444 Historic Buildings in Building Assessment (as of 27 December 2013)
External links
- Antiquities Advisory Board. Historic Building Appraisal. Stone House, No. 4 Tai Koon Yuen, Diamond Hill, Pictures
