Murray House

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Murray House
Traditional Chinese:		美利樓
Mandarin
Mandarin	Hanyu Pinyin:	Měilì Lóu
Cantonese
Cantonese	IPA:	[meɪ₃₃ leɪ₂₂ lɐʊ₁₁]
	Jyutping:	mei3 lei6 lau4

Murray House is now situated in Stanley, after the relocation.

The architecture of Murray House

Murray House was a Victorian-era building in Central, Hong Kong, China. The building was built in 1844 when Hong Kong was under British rule as a crown colony. It was named after Sir George Murray, the British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies between 1828 to 1830. It was initially used as barracks by the British military.

1 Architecture
2 During the era of Japanese occupation
3 Relocation of the building in Stanley
4 Hong Kong Maritime Museum
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Architecture

Murray House was the oldest surviving public building in Hong Kong. Similar to many of its "contemporaries" from the earily colonial era, it was designed in Classical architecture style. The heavy stone walls (with flat arched opening) are located on ground floor to give sense of stability; while the lighter Doric and Ionic columns are placed on the floors above to allow better ventilation. The building also adopted some measures such as putting verandas on all sides and each floors to response to the local subtropical/monsoons climate.

[edit] During the era of Japanese occupation

During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the building was used as the command centre by the Japanese military police. It was a venue for executing Chinese citizens during the 44 month Japanese occupation. After World War II, several government departments used the building as office, including the Rating and Valuation department headquarters, starting in 1975. The building was believed to be haunted and was officially exorcised twice by the government.

[edit] Relocation of the building in Stanley

In 1982, the historical landmark was dismantled to yield to the new Bank of China Tower. Over 3,000 building blocks were labelled and catalogued for future restoration. In 1990, the Housing Department proposed to resurrect the building in Stanley. The building was restored in 1998 and reopened in 1999.