No_4_August_and_September__1940 — Page 3

Hong Kong Builder

A TWO-STORY BUNGALOW

ON R.B.L. 419 MT. CAMERON RD,

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A view of the south-west elevation illustrating the true bungalow character of the building.

A visit to a new residence that was completed a few weeks ago would disclose a strange anomaly, a house which to all appearances is two stories in height yet is in reality a one story bungalow. By taking advantage

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of the contours of the ground the architect has provided for the service rooms and entrance hall on a lower level, which is the road level, and the attached garage with the servants' rooms above, in such a way that although the

The house as it appears from Mt. Cameron Road.

service rooms are of limited width and really unimportant in the scheme of the house, they provide a two story facade facing the street which is both pleasant and imposing in appearance.

The hill-top location of the house which made it possible to provide the impressive facade, had its dis- advantage in that there was not sufficient level ground to provide a decent sized lawn. As will be seen from the site plan, the slope was a fairly steep one and terracing would only have provided a narrow garden in front of the house and strips at descending levels below it. The architect decided therefore to build a retaining wall over thirty feet high and by careful calculation ar- ranged the cutting so that there would be sufficient height above street level to provide the two story