House hunting

Fanny visited last July to look for apartments but it was like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Not only had she not decided where her office would be, but she and her husband also had very different ideas about where they wanted to be based.

“I really wanted to live by the beach,” Fanny recalls, “and he wanted to live in the city. We started very open-minded and visited a lot of places to see what would click and what didn’t. We looked at a lot – probably 30! To find four bedrooms and three bathrooms was quite difficult, and then it was a matter of falling in love with the place. This one was clearly the best option.”

There were a few key things that made them choose the apartment, aside from the jawdropping view. The quality of the materials used in the home was important to them, as was the abundant natural light, and the size of the living area and kitchen. The living room is large enough to accommodate two separate spaces, as well as an area for dining, which makes it perfect for a family.

“We mainly live in the living room and in the kitchen,” Fanny says. “The last thing I wanted was a small living room and a small kitchen. I especially like the living room because the set-up is interesting – having two living areas gives us a few more options to play with. The open kitchen makes it easy, too. I was spoilt in London, as we were living in a beautiful house. It had been completely renovated and it had a lot of light – and I need light!”

While many expats are advised not to bring too much when moving to Hong Kong, Fanny took the opposite approach and brought all her furniture and homeware with her, despite the fact she was moving from a house to a Hong Kong apartment.

“I didn’t invest in furniture when my girls were babies, but they were old enough for us to get some nice furniture when we arrived four years ago in London,” Fanny says. “Because I had spent a bit of time and money I absolutely wanted to keep everything with me. So, I brought everything in the move. It was very difficult at the beginning to make everything fit in a very different space. It took me two or three months to really find the perfect set up in this house and re-purpose everything.”