Est. 1897 Curated with unnecessary formality. ashcroftmanor.com
ASHCROFT MANOR
The Directory › Asia › China › Hong Kong
Plate III · ii · a · The City

Hong Kong

One collection, halfway up a hill, seen only by appointment. This page is a plan, not a memory.

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Stepped lanes and shuttered shop fronts climbing the hillside above Hollywood Road at dusk
Plate III · ii · a · Hollywood Road

A city arranged vertically, where the address is not a street so much as a height above the harbour.

A day, properly arranged
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Written as an intention. I have not been, and the hour is theirs to give.

The entries

One entry, none visited. The mark stays hollow until it isn't.
Hardwood scholar chairs and a low table under a single downlight in a dark private gallery
Interior · hardwood, and the joint that holds it

Furniture that was built to be understood from behind as well as in front. I want to see it in a quiet room, and I have not yet.

JANUARY, INTENDED
Still on the list in Hong Kong
Not yet stood in. Kept here so I cannot quietly forget it.
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Notes for Hong Kong

Everything on this page follows from two words in the spine: by appointment. That is not a formality to be got round on the day — it is the shape of the visit. Write ahead, take the hour you are given, and build the rest of the day either side of it rather than in front of it.

Halfway up Hollywood Road means a climb, and a climb means shoes one can walk a hill in. I have put January against it because the air is dry then and the steps are less punishing; that is a preference, not a rule, and I will happily be told otherwise by someone who has actually gone.

I have not been. When I have, this page changes — the mark fills in, the notes get specific, and the day above stops being a plan. Until then it stays as written, which seems to me the only honest way to keep a directory.

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