From cattle farming in Australia to the bright lights of Macau, the indoor-outdoor lifestyle in Coloane village is the ideal home solution for one expatriate couple
Strolling through the maze of alleys that make up Coloane Village, one cannot help but peer through doorways and peek in windows of the intriguing little village houses that line either side. A sense of guilt at one’s nosiness doesn’t seem strong enough to prevent glancing inside and imagining what life must be like in these quaint homes.
Old Asia hands of 35 years, Australian architect Colin Stagg and his wife Sally moved to Macau eight years ago. After several years in a tiny apartment in Coloane village, their landlord needed it back, and so the search was on again for a new home. Both have country upbringings and a love of the outdoors, so they knew that a high-rise apartment would not work for them.
For a while the Staggs were drawn to the idea of some of the lake-side properties in Macau and experimented with the central Taipa option by staying at a friend’s home, but they always kept coming back to Coloane.
“We’re not contained box people” explains Colin, “we’ve got to have a relationship with the outside. A great view is just not enough, we enjoy having our doors open and being able to move inside and outside with ease.”
And as luck would have it, one day when Colin was in the village still keeping an eye out for a place, on Rua do Meio he passed a tiny 2-storey house which was in the process of an interior renovation.
“The front door was open and I poked my head in. The place was full of construction mess but instinctively I knew it was perfect for us. I could see what it was going to look like and what we could do to help it become that.”
Sitting outside doing a spot of gardening was the owner himself. Colin introduced himself and within a matter of hours the two men had reached an agreement for a three-year lease.
Colin is Resident Director on site with leading international architectural and interior design firm Aedas, working on various Venetian projects, so construction sites are the norm for him and he was undaunted by how much renovation was still needed on the place.
“It took us just two weeks to move in. We couldn’t wait to get out of Taipa!” he exclaims.
And what a little jewel this 800 square foot house has turned out to be. From the outside it looks reminiscent of a Hansel and Gretel fairy tale cottage, with a red trimmed front door, neat square stone walling and pot plants galore. The Chinese roof tiles and a concrete lion head imbedded on the front wall bring one back to reality – we’re in China. And the lion? Well, that’s a discarded sample from an Italian themed project. What a blend of cultures Macau has become!
The ground floor is made up of a living – dining area, a great open kitchen and a sizeable bathroom at the back. Up a flight of stairs is a large double bedroom with a sky-light, a big bathroom, a mini laundry room and a roof-top balcony.
“We love lying in bed and being able to look up at the sky, and we often see the alley cats as they tiptoe across our roof and look down on us!,” Colin says smiling.
There were a number of things that Colin and Sally needed to addto the renovation to suit their needs – for example, some kitchen shelves were knocked out to make way for a full size refrigerator, and a new stainless steel cooker was added. Touches of modern convenience continue in both bathrooms with new shower and tap fixtures.
A wonderful aspect of the house is that the wood used for the staircase banister, sections of flooring upstairs and the bathroom basin counter tops, comes from the old Lai Chi Wan shipyard, where timber was used in the repairing of boats.
What is perhaps most striking is the choice of floor and wall tiling. Not your usual ‘public toilet’ type tiles common in many modern renovations one sees in Macau, these are elegant pale grey from Spain for the floors, some funky fun turquoise-shell in the downstairs bathroom, black and orange-red mosaics in the kitchen, and an attractive tile collage of earth tones in the upstairs bathroom.
Wall colour in the living area is ‘Cottage Yellow’ and elsewhere ‘Atmosphere White’ – both ICI paints.
The ceiling above the bedroom has exposed beams and the underbelly of the interlocking Chinese roof tiles have been lightly painted in white, giving a ‘distressed’ look in keeping with the old village house style.
When it comes to furnishings, Colin and Sally’s enjoyment of re-purposing old, often discarded things, becomes apparent. Their dining table was once a Mahjong table. The two beautifully carved high-back dining chairs were found abandoned on the roadside. Likewise, a number of the lamps, an ornately carved mirror and some large plant pots. These were either sample rejects from projects, or thrown out as rubbish to make way for new, and so they have been lovingly cleaned and restored, and hold pride of place in their new home with the Staggs!
The sofa and chairs were all bought inexpensively from local shops.
Colin and Sally’s neighbours include a Chinese medicine doctor and a bicycle hire shop a few doors down, several other long-stay English and Australians, the famous Lord Stowe egg tart bakery and cafes, as well as Nga Tim restaurant on church square, “where Mr. Wong makes me sing with him at times” laughs Colin, “but the only song he knows is `O solo Mio!’”
A lot of the village folk, locals and expats alike, have knocked on the door and asked to be shown around since the renovation work. From the Filipino staff at the bakery, to the veggie shop lady, there is a genuine interest in how an old derelict stone house can be converted into such a charming cosy home.
“Both Sally and I find the beauty of living here is that you can actively participate or just sit quietly and watch the world carry on around you. You can give or take as much or as little as you like.”
Clearly deeply content in Coloane, the Staggs enjoy the spontaneity of life in the village.
“This little house represents much of who we are – comfortable, relaxing, easy going, fun in a lot of ways. We keep a table outside and a couple of chairs where we can sit with a bottle of wine and chat with passers-by. When I finish work I come out of the site office, turn left, head south and within less than ten minutes, I’m in this place so remote from the hustle and bustle of Macau or the building sites of Cotai – it’s like a different world. The locals refer to those living in Macau as “Tourists … from Macau!”
