King Yin Lei
King Yin Lei (Chinese: 景賢里) is a mansion located at 45 Stubbs Road, Mid-levels, Hong Kong. It was declared a monument on 11 July 2008.
The mansion was designed by British architect A.R. Fenton-Rayen. Construction began in 1936 and was completed by 1937. It sits on a 50,650 square feet (4,706 m2) site above Happy Valley Racecourse. The compound comprises a three-storey "red bricks and green tiles" building, a private garden festooned with penjing plants, various pavilions and terraces.
The property was offered for sale in early 2004. Despite claims that it was likely that the new buyer would demolish the property and redevelop it, the Government of Hong Kong did not act.
The Conservancy Association of Hong Kong, a heritage advocacy group, wrote to the Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Ho in April 2004 requesting him to consider declaring the mansion a monument under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance. The Association also organised a "Save King Yin Lei Campaign" in June and generated public discussion. Yow Mok Shing then announced that he would not sell the building for the moment.
The Government of Hong Kong did not act to preserve the building, arguing that it was private property and had not used its allocated land mass to the fullest. If the government was to declare it a historical building, thus forbidding the demolition and any further development on the site, it would have to pay a large amount of compensation to the owner, in the millions.
The owner wrote to the government on the preservation of the site but received no reply, after which the Secretary for Development Carrie Lam admitted it was insensitive of her department not to do so.
On 11 September 2007, dump trucks were spotted at the site. Parts of the roof were removed. All three Chinese characters on a front gate plaque were chiselled away by workers. The Conservancy Association of Hong Kong expressed disappointment that the government had not been able to preserve the estate. When the start of demolition was reported in the Hong Kong media, the government declared the site a proposed monument and ordered a work stoppage.
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