St. Joseph's Home for the Aged, Retirement home in Wong Tai Sin District, Hong Kong.
St. Joseph's Home for the Aged is a vacant compound at 35 Clear Water Bay Road, Ngau Chi Wan, with three surviving buildings: a 1919 neo-classical villa with eight Doric columns, a 1932–33 Modernist dormitory with rounded corners and a Chinese tiled roof, and a mid-1930s gate house with Doric pilasters and 'JMJ' above the arch.
The villa was built in 1919 for businessman Chan Keng-Yu on land linked to a farm run by Sun Mei, brother of Sun Yat-sen. In 1926 Chan's widow sold the site to the Little Sisters of the Poor, a French Catholic order, who opened Hong Kong's first dedicated home for the aged. The gate house and Dormitory A were added in the 1930s, and the site sheltered refugees fleeing the Japanese invasion of China. The villa, gate house and Dormitory A were confirmed as Grade II historic buildings on 4 February 2010.
During the 1930s, the compound functioned as a sanctuary for individuals escaping from the Japanese invasion in China, demonstrating its humanitarian significance.
The compound at 35 Clear Water Bay Road is vacant and fenced off, with white hoarding panels around the gate house, so the buildings cannot be entered. The gate house, with its J.M.J tablet and cross, faces the street near MTR Choi Hung station Exit B; the villa and Dormitory A stand behind it and are best seen from outside the fence.
The gate house bears the initials "J.M.J" for Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the motto of the Little Sisters of the Poor. The compound once held about ten buildings, including a chapel rated Grade I; the chapel and dormitories B and C were demolished, leaving the villa, dormitory A and the gate house.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,225 contributors worldwide.