Victoria Peak

The sixth Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Richard MacDonnell had a summer residence built on the Peak circa 1868.

These original residents reached their homes by sedan chairs, which were carried up and down the steep slope of Victoria Peak.

[5] In November 1996 businessman Wong Yuk Kwan paid HK$540 million for a house at 23 Severn Road called 'Genesis,' which was built in the 1980s by Heung Chi-kau.

Owned by HSBC and lived in by the bank's Chairmen, Skyhigh was sold to Kazuo Wada, the president of Yaohan, for HK$85 million in early 1990s.

Because Yaohan went bankrupt, Kazuo Wada sold to businessman Wong Yuk Kwan for HK$370 million.

In 2004, after SARS, actor Stephen Chow bought Skyhigh, and brought in Ryoden Development as a joint venture partner to rebuild the land into four houses.

[7][8] These property transactions at the Peak were desperate sales by cash-strapped businessmen during crisis of different economic cycles.

through a government auction for a plot at 12 Mount Kellett Road, where there were blocks of flats as housing for medium-grade officials.

[11] Despite record-breaking transactions reported by international news from the 1990s until 2010s, In fact, The Peak is not the most expensive residential area in Hong Kong.

Figures published in 2021 included 35 Barker Road, owned by Lee Shau-kee, to be among the top five most valuable houses.

The Peak has a diverse mix of apartment buildings and houses of different sizes and quality, and as a tourist destination, also has hospitals, schools and malls.

[15] The Mount Austin is a complex owned by Nan Fung Group with apartments of sizes ranging from 696 sq.ft.

[17] Barker Road is one of the most desirable streets because it is located below the level where harbour views are affected during foggy seasons.

In 2010, Lee Shau Kee, Chairman of Henderson Land Development, bought a site at 35 Barker Road for HK$1.82b and rebuilt into three houses as his family's dwellings after originally living in a penthouse on Mid-levels.

[1] Individual lots on the Peak are different than those of areas like Deep Water Bay and Jardine's Lookout, where both single family houses and multi-family blocks of flats can be constructed so long as the maximum plot ratio is 0.5.

Buildings Department permit exempted areas for such owners, outside of plot ratio, to accommodate shared facilities like club houses.

[25] Victoria Peak Garden is located on the site of Mountain Lodge, the Governor's old summer residence, and is the closest publicly accessible point to the summit.