Flagstaff House

The Flagstaff House is the oldest colonial-style building remaining in Hong Kong, China. It is located in 10 Cotton Tree Drive, - within the Hong Kong Park.

It has been a longtime residence of the Commander of the British forces in Hong Kong during . Today Flagstaff House houses the Museum of Tea Ware. The building is a popular setting for wedding photography.

History

Flagstaff House, which was called Headquarter House until 1932. There is some disagreement as to who designed it, but it was completed in 1846 and initially served as the military headquarters office and residence of the . The site chosen was a small buff above and above Queen's Road, then at the waterfront.

The building was created in . Historians suspect it was designed either by Murdoch Bruce, a Scotsman who was inspector of buildings, or by Lieutenant Bernard Collinson of the . The first occupant was Major-General George Charles D'Aguilar, General Officer Commanding from 1844 to 1846 who also held the post of Lieutenant Governor.

The west and east wings were shelled when the , and it suffered bomb damage. The Japanese repaired it and the Commandant took the building as his residence during .

After the , Flagstaff House was again the Commander's residence until 1978, when the Commander moved to a purpose built house on Barker Road. It was handed over by the military to the civilian Hong Kong Government as part of the surrender of . The Government put it under the responsibility of the in 1981.

The building was in 1989. It was restored as far as possible to its original mid-19th-century appearance, structurally reinforced, and the interior was to be modified so that it could be used as a museum.

Museum of Tea Ware

In 1984, the Flagstaff House was converted into the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, a branch museum of the Hong Kong Museum of Art. The museum specializes in the collection, study and display of teaware, including many examples of the Yixing teapot, from China's Jiangsu Province.

A new wing, the K.S. Lo Gallery, was added in 1995. It is named after a local collector, which made a donation to the city in the 1970s. This donation now constitutes the core of the museum's collection. The new gallery contains a collection of and Chinese seals.