In the following year he built his house and named it 'Stonyhurst', after Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, England, where he had been educated and afterwards intended to enter the Roman Catholic priesthood.

Its owners were, in succession, J. J. Francis (1886–1901), The China Fire Insurance Co. Ltd., Ahmet Rumjahn (1903–10), J. J.

[2] The house is built on a platform supported by a retaining wall topped by a classical style parapet.

Later when the style was falling from favour in Europe, it had a surge in popularity throughout the British colonies.

The wide first floor windows have plain segmental arches with central keystones.

[2] 'Stonyhurst' bears witness to a historical period when the coolies' labour was much needed in the construction of buildings in Hong Kong.

In 1889, two years after the completion of 'Stonyhurst', the Governor Sir William Des Vœux described the building of houses on the Peak in these words: “every brick, stone, timber, and other article used in construction, as well as the furniture on completion, requires to be carried on coolies’ shoulders for distances varying from one to two miles to a height of 1,100 to 1,600 feet".