A remarkable 8,000 sft home on the Praia Grande is the result of a 35-year romance with MacauWhen British couple Brian and Chris Duggan first came to Macau it was on holiday with their children in 1978. They took the 3-hour boat trip from Hong Kong where they were living at the time and stayed at the Sintra hotel, which along with the Lisboa hotel and casino, were the tallest buildings in the city.
“We fell in love with Macau for its obvious relaxed Mediterranean feel rather than the more formal British life-style in Hong Kong”, explains Brian. The pace of everything was laid back; “we’d take the children to see the water buffalo ploughing the paddy fields in Taipa!”
Being devout Christians they also appreciated that Macau is full of Christian celebrations so they started visiting more regularly … particularly when the Hong Kong University where Brian worked as a lecturer had their long holiday break at Easter. The Feast Day in Coloane, the vibrancy of Chinese New Year with its fireworks which the children loved – it seemed like a magical place. 
Fast forward twenty years, Brian’s retirement date was looming and neither of them were looking forward to the prospect of moving back to England. Chris sensed this and in 1999 she said “Brian, I’d be prepared to retire in Asia if we could live in Macau”.
And so the decision was made and they started to look for a home here but try as they may, they couldn’t find a single estate agent in those days who could speak English. Eventually it all got too difficult so they bought an apartment in Hillsborough Court on Old Peak Road in Hong Kong. Brian was persuaded by the university Dean to stay on to set up the Medical Engineering degree programme, a first of its kind for Hong Kong.
But Macau kept calling. So in early 2003 during the SARS outbreak in Guangdong and Hong Kong when property prices starting dropping like a stone, through the help of English friends David and Jackie (owners of the Macau Soul wine bar), they eventually settled on a 2,600 sq ft apartment in Hellene Garden, Coloane – at that time costing the grand sum of HKD500 a square foot. After extensive renovation in 2005 they rented Hillsborough Court and moved to Macau.
As he was still working for Hong Kong University, for the next couple of years Brian commuted to Hong Kong every day – with Chris driving him to the ferry pier and picking him up at night. Once his work was complete on the degree programme he became advisor to the university President.
Christmas 2005 and 2006 was spent happily in Hellene Garden where they had lots of friends staying with them for the holidays. On Boxing Day 2006 they decided to take their visitors to walk around some of the old parts of Macau.
Strolling through the Tap Seac area they saw an estate agent shop with signs in the window in English. The agent was friendly and spoke good English and took them to see an apartment for sale in Lake View Garden, overlooking Nam Wan. It was Chris that said “yes, I like this, I’d like to live in town” but after two weeks of negotiation the deal fell through.
Undeterred their agent proposed that they take a look at a roof top apartment of a 14 storey building a short walk along the Praia Grande towards town. Built in the 80’s, the apartment for sale was huge; 4,000 sq ft on one level, plus another 4,000 sq ft above, half of which is open terrace. “It was a total wreck” laughs Brian, “and needed an entire rebuild, but the Duggans decided to take the project on.
By now this was in early 2006 and at the height of Bird Flu when prices were soft so it was a brave move but at HKD1,000 a sq ft for a central Macau location, when today some buildings are , it has proved to be a very sound investment decision. And besides, “we love living here” says Chris, “there are 3 supermarkets, the centre of town and the central business district all within 2 minutes’ walk. We like our neighbours most of whom are older owner residents.”
Originally the site was a 5-storey house believed to have been owned by a Chinese family with the opium concession for Macau. Changing hands and being rebuilt over several generations, the sellers to the Duggans were an old established Macanese family. Enthusiastic ballroom dancers they used the upstairs as a dance studio with proper dance floor and mirrored walls. Their servant quarters were the other side of the building, another huge 4,000 sq ft space, with views over the roof tops of low rise Barra area, Senado Square, Pont 16 and the inner harbor. This was purchased in 2008 by an enterprising American designer who renovated the space into two stunningly modern apartments which were then sold to two Canadian families.
“When we first bought,” Brian says, “one could see from our roof terrace straight through to the airport, but since then of course so many new buildings have come up – Lake View Tower, the Wynn, Encore, MGM, The Arch, One Central Residences and the Mandarin Oriental – what big changes there have been!”
It took a year to remodel and renovate. Virtually everything, building materials and furnishing was bought direct from across the border in China at a fraction of the price that it was in Macau. There are now 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, Brian’s study, a library, formal living room, formal dining room, spacious kitchen, housekeeper’s room cum laundry and 2 balconies on the first floor. Up the internal staircase and there is a very large family dining and living room, a sixth bathroom and an enormous roof terrace. Tables and chairs are set out on the terrace for after-dinner scrabble contests.
Flooring is golden-gleaming teak wood parquet, walls, sofas and chairs are predominantly white. Splashes of colour come from the oriental rugs, curtains and artwork, some copies by local artists of the well-known Beijing-style art, some others beautiful Irish landscapes by Gillian Icke. And pride of place, some on counter tops, some in glass fronted cabinets, stand the Duggan’s collection of Shi Wan glazed ceramic figurines, many in the classic reds and blue.
A mock fireplace provides the focus to the formal living area. Decorative coloured glass inlay set in frosted glass panels in some doors encourages plenty of natural light to flood in.
The Duggans have been married now for 50 years and over that time have made a huge number of longtime friends, many of whom like to visit. Having such a big home makes this all possible. The space is perfectly set up for entertainment, be it dining or lounging. Especially the upstairs where, being keen film buffs, they keep their big screen TV and collection of DVDs. Regular church goers and stalwart supporters of the Morrison Chapel, the Duggans often invite families over for Sunday afternoon films. With Brian’s boisterous enthusiasm and Chris’ quiet but firm presence a sense of comfort, kindness and conviviality pervades their home.
And after a 35 year old love affair with Macau, what does the future hold for the Duggans? While there’s no doubt that Macau offers a rich and varied life to its residents there unfortunately remains a nagging worry about the poor healthcare – imagined or real – so the Duggans, like many long term expatriate residents living and retiring in Macau will hedge their bets when it comes to medical matters and keep a home in Hong Kong incase one or other gets sick and needs hospitalization. “Pok Fu Lam we think” says Brian, “so as to have the excellent Queen Mary with its state of the art medical equipment close at hand.”
Chris will continue to work intermittently supporting the research of journalist such as Hong Kong based Gillian Bickley. After a distinguished career in education, Brian finally retires this year from the University of Hong Kong as Emeritus Professor and Honorary Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. Both intend to spend more time involved in their charitable foundations, in particular the Langham project that focuses on providing books to Africa, preaching schools and sending bright, committed Christian students to top universities to do their PhDs in theology.
Photographs by Antonio Mil-Homens
