A 5/F walk up set in the historic Centre of Macau, is home to British family, the Allans
When British couple Samiya and Derek Allan came to live in Macau in 2002, they rented a spacious 2,000 square foot, 4 bedroom 4 bathroom
apartment opposite the Sintra Hotel in central Macau, for the grand sum of HKD4,000 a month. They were happy times and their four young children had a constant stream of friends over. “We were offered the apartment to buy for HKD1M but decided against it as it needed a lot of work doing to it” says Samiya. “Hindsight is a wonderful thing and of course today that apartment would be worth at least 10 times that!” she laughs.
Rents continued creeping up and so in 2006 they decided to buy. This meant downsizing was necessary; school bills in Macau are not cheap anyway, but with four children aged then between 4 and 11, the budget had to be tailored accordingly. “In Hong Kong where we’d been living I was fed up driving the children here and there for all the many after school activities so I said that I wanted to be down town so we could walk or take the bus” explains Samiya.
Exploring the streets of central Macau one day “we came across a woman sitting at an iron desk on the pavement offering property for sale.
Behind her was a small ‘hole in the wall’ shop, completely empty, its metal shutters were open and she’d dragged her desk outside; so typical of old Macau!”
The Allans fell in love with the area that is on the isthmus, the very narrowest part of the Macau peninsular – tucked in behind the Leal Senado, on the one side is the Praia Grande just 2 minutes walk away and on the other side is the inner harbor. “This was the first place we saw and we knew it was for us. We are in an area of Macau that is brimming with history. The old Police Station two lanes away used to be a refugee centre for those fleeing the Cultural Revolution. Further up the hill within less than a minute’s walk is the 16th century St Augustine Church and opposite the beautiful Dom Pedro Theatre, the 18th century St Joseph’s Seminary and Church and the wonderful Sir Robert Ho Tung library, once the Ho Tung’s family home, where the kids go to read and hang out with friends in the gardens.
We consider ourselves so fortunate being here in this little nook where you can feel connected with everything, its just great! We hear the chiming of the 6 bells of the Post Office, the very low bell at 5 o’clock of St Augustine’s and the fog horns from the ships in the spring. And at night, total peace whilst old Macau sleeps.”
Situated just off the narrow one way street of Calcada do Gamboa, the Allan 1,000 square foot home is on the fifth floor (“it keeps us fit walking up those steps!”) and laid out over two levels with a balcony and an open roof, exotically described in the Deeds, Samiya smiles, “as a Penthouse Duplex.”
As one enters there is a staircase to the left, balcony directly ahead and living cum dining area that leads on to the kitchen at the end on the right. A beautiful 8 ft tall Chinese carved elm wood cabinet found many years ago in a little store tucked away down a alley off Hollywood Road in 
Hong Kong, is a family treasure and holds pride of place. The dining table started off life not as a dining table at all – “we think its an old Government bureau used for stamping passports perhaps at an immigration office – extremely heavy, it has 3 drawers, all with locks and inside they are stained with ink from various different chops. There’s a big fat cigar burn on the top, which I love. The table opens up and we’ve managed to get 12 around it for spaghetti suppers.” By comparison the light metal chairs serve a multipurpose for both dining downstairs and taking up to the roof on fine days.
The kitchen, through a blue and white arch, has been charmingly decorated in blue and white diagonal tiles, white counter top, blue cabinets, and Samiya’s collection of blue and white chinaware. Behind a blue and white checkered cloth is a tiny laundry. “Very rudimentary, but it works for us.” Although the family certainly considers Macau as home, it is essentially a part time home – “it’s a for school term time type of house, a ‘heads down, study and books’ home; for all the major holidays we are either traveling or staying in our Hong Kong base in the New Territories.”
“We make our home with our carpets”, explains Derek. Carpets are hung on walls, in doorways, on the floor. He has been collecting them for some years now – mostly Tibetan and Ningzhe. They come from Shaun Kelly’s shop Zee Stone in Hollywood Road, Hong Kong. A freelance photographer, Derek started working for Shaun shooting carpets for his various marketing materials and soon fell in love with his subjects and eventually set up a barter arrangement. “Yes, when we move we roll them up and rehang them in the new place and instantly it becomes home”, says Samiya.
The long balcony running the length of the downstairs is where Derek enjoys sitting outside for a smoke, and Nothing, the pet guinea pig resides. Across the way a neighbour hangs out his washing and tends to his plants, and fresh bread smells waft past from the bakery across the road.
“When the man came to fit the blue carpet upstairs he asked me ‘Why have you moved to such a poor area?’” smiles Samiya. “But our neighborhood being very local is a major plus for us! There’s a Macanese family next to us – we both have roofs and so we watch the fireworks together. Jen, my lovely, lovely Macau Chinese friend lives directly below us. She knows that I adore red bean desert soup so every time she cooks a batch she’ll bring me up a bowl. The old grandma on the 4/F – when the kids were young and got back from school early she’d have them in, give them a drink.”
Up the stairs, which for space and openness have had their banisters removed and replaced with piles of books and more blue and white chinaware, one draws aside a thick carpet hanging at the top, to a landing area cum study and an Aladdin’s cave of treasures; a magnificent old 9 drawer scholar’s desk from Macau, an art deco lamp, artifacts collected over the years and more books. Above a much loved oil painting from Mr Fong, previously with Zee Stone – in blues, greys and whites, of a wild coastal scene. “I bought this with savings from my job with International SOS – I tend to buy one significant memento for each job I have”. 
The master bedroom is spacious enough to fit a king size bed, made by a local shop that used to be by St Paul’s steps. The window blinds are metal, and unusually pretty with a floral design. The blue ceiling lamp was originally on a standing lamp but taken off and turned upside down to throw light downwards.
Across the hall is a small bathroom – “with a window out on one of the best views of Macau whilst we shower”. Next door, Hendrix, aged 13, has his own room – a low bed, big window looking over to Pont 16, the inner harbor and the fast developing Zhuhai with the backdrop of hills. A wooden Chinese table that started life apparently as a mahjong table but then had its legs cut. 
“It was too high for a coffee table, but perfect for the children as they were growing up.” Hendrix’s rugby medals from his time playing for Simon Carrington’s The Macau Bats rugby team hold pride of place.
At the end of the hall is a spacious bathroom for the girls, recently renovated to make a large shower stall. Next to it is their room, with is bunk beds and turquoise walls used to sleep 3; Phoebe 15, Pia 18 and Paisley 20 – but the 3rd bed has been removed to make way for Phoebe’s drum kit, as Paisley is now away studying in London. Each girl has her own cork board where they hang favourite photos, and posters of their footballer heros. They’ve had to live very neatly, sharing hanging and drawer space in one handsome red chest of drawers.
“Living in such close quarters has made our family close” explains Samiya. “The focus is not the house as it is in most Western families – we’re more Asian in that way, we use the outside a lot – we do lots of outdoor activities, sports, sailing, church, friends. It’s been very beneficial to my family and given the children a lot of independence, motivation and drive”. 
Certainly their choice of local lifestyle has been a success for the Allan family. Their unpretentious, natural and engaging manner puts the visitor instantly at ease. And from their roof terrace looking down over a sea of low rise corrugated roofs stretching into the distance, passed the lovely Senado Square post office towards the Fort Museum on the hill one is drawn to this old Macau charmed existence.
Photographs by Antonio Mil-Homens, taken exclusively for Macau Closer magazine
