The owners of this elegant Ocean Gardens apartment arrived in Macau in 1999 intending to only stay for a couple of years, but today they very much consider the city home. And looking around their expansive 3700 sq ft flat, it’s not hard to see why.
Featuring four bedrooms, four bathrooms and a large housekeeping area, this apartment also has sensational Macau skyline and sea views. Looking down from the large semi-circular balcony, boats chug past with their loads, and evening skies turn a magnificent orange as the sun sets behind the China hills.
The decorative theme can be described as European with Asian touches – the apartment’s colour palate is of beige, gold and black, accented with greens, pale blues and occasional bursts of bright and muted pinks.
The dark wood floors underfoot blend attractively with the dining table – black with a tinge of deep chocolate brown, purchased from the interior design shop AREA in Ocean Gardens. The comfortable sturdy modern dining chairs have been re-covered in beige velvet to fit the colour scheme and add a contemporary, minimalist look. An ornate black chandelier hangs above as a perfect juxtaposition to the modern lines of the furniture below.
It is the skill with which colours and patterns have been lovingly selected and brought together that is so pleasing to both the eyes and touch. The living room walls are painted in a Farrow and Ball mix of savage ground, cord and cats paw that blends stunningly with the bronze coloured curtains and blue velvet sofas from Alfield Homes, Hong Kong.
Aspects of design balance in the main living area are so subtle as to almost go unnoticed, but certainly contribute towards a sense of harmony and balance. An example of this is a set of three charming antique Chinese porcelain pots on one side of the living room shelves – painted with birds in bushes of vibrant pink Chrysanthemums with splashes of blue that tie in perfectly with the blue sofas on the other side of the room and the luscious pink Rhododendrons in flower pots on the balcony.
The artwork is another remarkable highlight of this home. In the hallway sitting above a now rare red lacquered Chinese chest with heavy black ornate ironwork, is an acrylic on canvas painting by Portuguese artist Diogo Munoz, ‘Picasso and Demoiselles D’Avignon’. In the study, behind the sofa upholstered in fabric by Zoffany (‘Emperor’s musicians, willow and pink’) is a piece by Portuguese painter Maluda, famed for her paintings of windows, and some charcoal nudes by Maria Joao Franco.
The living room walls feature paintings by artists Fernando Gaspar, Vivilde Ferreira, Catherine Heredia and Isabel Teixeira de Sousa. Two gold-framed water colours of nativity scenes by Jose Tinoco and architectural sketches by Pritka prize winner, Portuguese artist Siza Vieira are much treasured.
The antique cabinets, screens and vases bought locally are now sadly impossible to find any longer in Macau (so many of the once famous antique furniture businesses have been pushed out in favour of cosmetic shops and pharmacies serving the desires of our Mainland visitors). The bow-legged coffee table that is the living room centrepiece is another old piece from Macau. Once brown it is now lacquered in black.
A huge master bedroom with bay windows looking out to a sea view is dominated at first glance by a sensational rug of ‘rosa veilo’ (old pink) and beige gold. Walls are papered with the palest of aqua greens with white and brown flowers. Silvery beige, soft-to-the-touch velvet bed cover and bed-end seat are strong in European influence, but the Scholars table – a varnished elmwood Chinese piece with all its wear marks left untouched so as to retain its character – provides that gentle reminder that we are in Asia.
The master ensuite bathroom is in bronze and brown marble, with double basins and hardware painstakingly selected from Lockhart Road in Hong Kong. Adjacent is the dressing area with wardrobe contents hidden behind white louvered doors.
At the far end is the children’s’ playroom and another bathroom. A sunny space with a white sofa and white desks set against yellow walls, a bright multi-coloured rug and deep green curtains. There’s so much light that pours into this room that the curtains are fitted with Roman blind sheers – and here another thoughtful design touch is that they are edged with matching fabric from the pelmet and curtains, so as to look like part of a set.
And last but not least this home benefits from a sizeable kitchen and housekeeping area. Here elegance meets functionality. The all-white theme – floors, ceilings, breakfast table and all the cabinetry are in gloss white – provides a sense of space and cleanliness. The stainless steel countertops and splash-backs reflect more light from a large window. This entire window is hung with one huge Roman blind, a wide expanse of pale blue Nina Campbell fabric – (‘Birdcages’) with bronze birdcages hanging from silvery green branches, white birds and dragon flies and tiny pink flowers.
Prior to visiting this home, a friend had whispered to me, that in her opinion it is one of the most beautifully decorated that she knows of in Macau. Having had the privilege of seeing it in person, it is a sentiment certainly shared.
