How Hong Kong ‘empty nester’ couple made downsizing a fine art
Sydney natives Helen and Wendell Boyd, their three children grown and having flown the family coop, went from 2,100 square feet to 650 square feet but still found a way to display art and objets dear to them, writes James King
In Helen Boyd’s light-infused Sai Kung home, life doesn’t so much imitate art as spin dizzily around it.
The one-bedroom flat on the top floor of a village house has expansive sea and mountain views.
Nestled in a secluded corner of Tui Min Hoi village, at the far end of Sai Kung harbour, it is within strolling distance of the seafront seafood joints but far enough from the neon signs for quiet contemplation.
Boyd and her husband, Wendell, who have lived in Hong Kong for 13 years, hail from Sydney. They lived in Sai Kung’s Costa Bello complex, but “had been looking for years to buy because rents are so expensive”, says Boyd, a visual artist.
“We’d looked at 200 places, at least, everywhere from Fo Tan to converted industrial units in Aberdeen,” she says. “The day I saw this place, I thought, ‘Wow!’ I was excited right away.”
Boyd had an artist’s eye for how to rework the flat, which had been a two-bedroom rental property.
